WHAT ARE INTERROGATIVES?
Interrogatives are expressions used to ask questions and gather information about an unknown fact.
Some common interrogative words in English are who, what, and which. For example, if I ask: “What are you eating?” the word what refers to an unknown fact, in this case, a noun (so, we can view what as a pronoun). You can answer: “I’m eating an apple,” “a piece of cake,” or “pizza.”
What kind of words are interrogatives? Well, there has yet to be an agreement among scholars! Depending on how we view them, they can be pronouns, adjectives, or adverbs.
But let’s not get into that! I’m only trying to put some order to help you learn Spanish quickly!
INTERROGATIVES IN SPANISH
Good news, Spanish interrogative expressions are very similar to English ones. No need to bore you with complex rules. Here’s a list of the most important Spanish interrogatives you need to know:
| # | English | Español |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | how | cómo |
| 2 | how many | cuántos / cuántas |
| 3 | how much | cuánto / cuánta |
| 4 | what | qué |
| 5 | when | cuándo |
| 6 | where | dónde |
| 7 | which | cuál / cuáles |
| 8 | who | quién / quiénes |
| 9 | whom | a quién / a quiénes |
| 10 | whose | de quién / de quiénes |
| 11 | why | por qué |
TIP! Just so you know, when you ask a question in Spanish, the subject and verb usually switch places.
¿Qué come Juan?
What does Juan eat?
Let’s see some examples!
1. HOW
How did you learn to speak Spanish?
¿Cómo aprendiste (tú) a hablar español?
2. HOW MANY
With feminine nouns:
How many people will come to the party?
¿Cuántas personas vendrán a la fiesta?
With masculine nouns:
How many books did Juana read?
¿Cuántos libros leyó Juana?
3. HOW MUCH
Neutral:
How much does this table cost?
¿Cuánto cuesta este cuadro?
With feminine nouns:
How much milk did you add?
¿Cuánta leche agregaste (tú)?
With masculine nouns:
How much coffee did they drink?
¿Cuánto café bebieron (ellos)?
4. WHAT
What did you do, Pepe?
¿Qué hiciste, Pepe?
5. WHEN
When is the party?
¿Cuándo es la fiesta?
6. WHERE
Where is the supermarket?
¿Dónde está el supermercado?
7. WHICH
Singular and unknown number:
Which book do the teachers recommend?
¿Cuál libro recomiendan los maestros?
Plural:
Whick books de the teachers recommend?
¿Cuáles libros recomiendan los maestros?
8. WHO
Singular and unknown number:
Who will come to the meeting?
¿Quién vendrá a la reunión?
Plural:
Who will come to the meeting?
¿Quiénes vendrán a la reunión?
9. WHOM
Singular and unknown number:
Whom did you invite to the wedding?
¿A quién invitaste a la boda?
Plural:
Whom did you invite to the wedding?
¿A quiénes invitaste a la boda?
10. WHOSE
Singular and unknown number:
Whose pencil is this?
¿De quién es este lápiz?
Plural:
Whose pencil is this?
¿De quiénes es este lápiz?
11. WHY
Why did you choose that color?
¿Por qué elegiste ese color?
