Questions in Spanish

How to ask "Yes/No" questions in Spanish?

The word order of yes/no - questions is the same as in declarative sentences.The question arises from the sentence melody: ¿(subject +) verb + object? 

In Spanish, an inverted question mark is placed before the question. The same applies to exclamation marks. 

Example:

• ¿Michael es de Alemania? (Is Michael from Germany?) 

• Sí, Michael es de Alemania. (Yes, Michael is from Germany.) 

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How to answer yes/no questions

Yes/No - questions can be answered with yes or no. The word order of the answers is the same as in the questions: 

• ¿Te gusta Valencia? - Si, me gusta Valencia. (Do you like Valencia? - Yes, I like Valencia.)
• ¿Has comido Paella alguna vez? - No, no he comido Paella ninguna vez.  (Have you ever eaten Paella? - No I have never eaten Paella.)

Supplementary questions​ (qué, cómo, por qué, dónde, ...)

Supplementary questions are, as in English, initiated by a question pronoun. All question pronouns in Spanish carry an accent. The most important question pronouns (interrogative pronouns) are listed here:

Interrogative pronouns with prepositions

Qué (What?) can also serve in combination with a preposition as another interrogative pronoun:

and cuándo (When?) with a preposition

In supplementary questions the subject stands behind the verb. If the subject can be omitted, it simply falls away:

• ¿Dónde vive Pablo? (Where does Pablo live?)
• ¿Cuántos años tienes (tú)? (How old are you?)
• ¿Quiénes son los Beatles? (Who are the Beatles?)

How to answer supplementary questions

To answer supplementary questions you can't use only yes/no. Further information is needed:

• ¿Dónde están los libros? - Los libros están en la cocina. (Where are the books? - The books are in the kitchen.)
• ¿Qué hacéis mañana? - Mañana vamos a ir a Madrid para visitar un museo. (What are you doing tomorrow? - Tomorrow we are going to go to Madrid to visit a museum.)

Here you can find more information about the Spanish interrogative pronouns.

Indirect questions

The rules for indirect questions are similar to the rules of the indirect speech. The distinction of yes/no - questions and supplementary questions is very important. 

Yes/No - questions

Yes/No - questions must be initiated with si (if). 

• Fernando: "¿Estás emocionado por las Navidades?" (Fernando: "Are you excited for Christmas?")
• Fernando quiere saber si estás emocionado por las Navidades. (Fernando wants to know, if you are excited about Christmas.)

When the introductory sentence is in the past, the time of the indirect question changes. If you want to know more about the back shift, just have a look on the chapter "indirect speech". 

• Marta: "¿Has visto "Solo en casa"?" (Marta: "Have you seen "Home Alone"?")
• Marta quería saber si yo había visto "Solo en casa". (Marta wanted to know, if I had seen "Home Alone".)

Supplementary questions

Indirect supplementary questions are introduced with the same question word as the direct speech.

• Fernando: "¿Cómo te llamas?" (Fernando: "What's your name?")
• Fernando quiere saber cómo me llamo. (Fernando wants to know, what's my name.)

When the introductory sentence is in the past, the time of the indirect question changes. If you want to know more about the back shift, just have a look on the chapter "indirect speech". 

• Marta: "¿Cuándo salisteis?" (Marta: "When did you leave?")
• Marta quería saber cuándo habíamos salido. (Marta wanted to know, when we had left.)

In this chapter you learned how to form questions in Spanish. Test you knowledge now in our free exercises. Good luck!