Question words (qué, quién, dónde, cuándo, cómo, por qué, cuánto)

¿Quién es ella y dónde trabaja?Who is she and where does she work?

Question words are the little words that open an information question: they ask what, who, where, when, how, why and how much. In Spanish they carry a written accent when they ask a question, whether directly or inside another sentence (qué, dónde, cómo…), they open the question right after the ¿ (or after a preposition such as de or con, see below), and the verb follows them, as in questions: intonation and word order.

Quick shortcut: qué = what · quién = who · dónde = where · cuándo = when · cómo = how · por qué = why (two words) · cuánto = how much / how many (agrees with the noun). All have an accent when they ask a question: ¿Qué quieres? · ¿Dónde vives? · ¿Cuántos hermanos tienes?

The basic question words

A few details are worth knowing from the start:

• qué can also stand in front of a noun: ¿Qué libro quieres? (Which book do you want?) ¿Qué hora es? (What time is it?). The word cuál, used to choose among options (¿Cuál prefieres?), has its own lesson: Qué vs cuál.
• quién is for people. It has a plural, quiénes, when you expect several: ¿Quiénes son ellos?
• dónde asks about a place. For a direction ("to where"), the standard written form is adónde (or a dónde): ¿Adónde vas? (Where are you going?) In everyday speech you will often hear ¿Dónde vas? too.
• cómo asks how something is done, or how someone is or what they are like: ¿Cómo es tu casa? (What is your house like?) · ¿Cómo está tu padre? (How is your father?). The choice between es and está is explained in ser vs estar: basic contrast.

How cuánto agrees

cuánto matches the noun it goes with in gender and number, like an adjective (see adjective agreement):

• ¿Cuánto dinero tienes? (How much money do you have?)
• ¿Cuánta agua hay? (How much water is there?)
• ¿Cuántos libros hay en la mesa? (How many books are there on the table?)
• ¿Cuántas personas hay en la fiesta? (How many people are at the party?)

The noun can be left out when it is clear from context, and cuánto still agrees with it: ¿Cuántos hay? (How many are there?) · ¿Cuántas quieres? (How many do you want?) When it asks about a price or a general amount, with no particular noun in mind, it stays cuánto: ¿Cuánto cuesta? · ¿Cuánto es? (How much is it?)

The written accent

When they ask a question, every one of these words carries a written accent. The same words without an accent have other jobs: they connect parts of a sentence instead of asking:

• ¿Dónde vives? (Where do you live?) but Vivo donde trabajo. (I live where I work.)
• ¿Qué quieres? (What do you want?) but Sé que vives aquí. (I know that you live here.)
• ¿Cómo estás? (How are you?) but Es alto como su padre. (He is tall, like his father.)

The accent also stays when the question is reported inside another sentence: No sé dónde vive. (I don't know where she lives.) · Quiero saber cuándo llega. (I want to know when he arrives.)

Por qué and porque

Spanish has two different look-alikes here. ¿Por qué? is the question "why?" and it is written as two words with an accent. Porque is one word without an accent and means "because", so it is used in the answer:

• ¿Por qué estudias español? → Porque me gusta. (Why do you study Spanish? → Because I like it.)

Question words with prepositions

When a question word goes with a preposition, the preposition stays in front of it at the start of the question:

• ¿De dónde eres? (Where are you from?)
• ¿Con quién vives? (Who do you live with?)
• ¿En qué trabajas? (What do you do for work?)
• ¿Para qué estudias español? (What do you study Spanish for?)

Common mistakes

• ❌ ¿Que quieres? → ✅ ¿Qué quieres? (the question word needs its written accent)
• ❌ ¿Porque estudias español? → ✅ ¿Por qué estudias español? (porque is "because", so it belongs in the answer)
• ❌ ¿Cuánto hermanos tienes? → ✅ ¿Cuántos hermanos tienes? (cuánto agrees with the noun)
• ❌ ¿Quién son ellos? → ✅ ¿Quiénes son ellos? (a plural subject calls for quiénes)

Quick check

Which question word fits each item?

1. ¿___ vives? (where)
2. ¿___ es tu profesor? (who, one person)
3. ¿___ hermanos tienes? (how many)
4. "Why do you study Spanish?" in Spanish:
5. A short answer to item 4 with "because I like it":
6. ¿___ llega el tren? (when)
7. ¿___ cuesta? (how much, with no noun)

Key takeaways

• The basic question words are qué, quién/quiénes, dónde, cuándo, cómo, por qué and cuánto/cuánta/cuántos/cuántas, and each carries a written accent when it asks a question, direct or indirect.
• They open the question, right after ¿ or after a preposition, and the verb follows: ¿Dónde vives?
• cuánto agrees with its noun, spoken or understood: ¿Cuántas personas hay? · ¿Cuántas quieres? For a price or a general amount it stays cuánto: ¿Cuánto cuesta?
• ¿Por qué? asks "why" (two words, accent); porque answers "because" (one word).
• A preposition stays in front of its question word: ¿De dónde eres? · ¿Con quién vives?
• The same words without an accent (donde, que, como) are not question words.