what is it?
Spanish has a set of dedicated interrogative words — qué, quién(es), cuánto/a/os/as, dónde, cómo, and por qué — used to ask for specific information. Every one of them carries a written accent mark, which distinguishes them from their non-question counterparts (e.g. donde = «where» as a relative, dónde = «where?» as a question word). Yes/no questions, by contrast, need no special word: they are formed either by inverting the subject and verb, or simply by using rising intonation.
when to use it
Information questions: use an interrogative word when you need a specific piece of information — a place, a person, a quantity, a manner, or a reason.
Yes/no questions — inversion: place the verb before the subject. No helper verb is added.
Yes/no questions — intonation: keep the normal word order but raise your pitch at the end. This is common in informal speech.
formation
For information questions, the pattern is:
¿ + interrogative word + verb + (subject) + … ?
The subject, when expressed, follows the verb. For yes/no questions the pattern is:
¿ + verb + (subject) + … ?
The table below lists each interrogative word with its meaning and a usage note.
| interrogative | meaning | note |
|---|---|---|
| qué | what / which | invariable |
| quién | who (singular) | becomes quiénes in the plural |
| cuánto / cuánta | how much | agrees in gender with the noun |
| cuántos / cuántas | how many | agrees in gender with the noun |
| dónde | where | invariable |
| cómo | how | invariable |
| por qué | why | two words; answer uses porque (one word, no accent) |
examples in context
common pitfalls
Missing the written accent. Writing donde instead of dónde (or que instead of qué, etc.) is a spelling error in Spanish. The accent is not optional — it signals that the word is interrogative, not a relative or conjunction.
Keeping subject-verb order after a question word. ✗ ¿Dónde tú vives? → ✓ ¿Dónde vives? After an interrogative word, the verb comes before the expressed subject. In practice, Spanish often omits the subject pronoun entirely.
Adding a helper verb for yes/no questions. Spanish has no equivalent of English «do/does». ✗ ¿Do vives aquí? is not Spanish. Use inversion — ¿Vives aquí? — or rising intonation on the same word order as a statement.