Interrogative pronouns – with audio!

What?… When? … Why?

¿Qué?… ¿Cuándo?… ¿Por qué?

Humans are an inquisitive species. This is why we simply can’t get through the day without asking questions.

So, in order for you to be able to satisfy your curiosity in Spanish, in this guide, you will learn the following question words and more:

• What?
  ¿Qué?

• How?
  ¿Cómo?

• Who?
  ¿Quién?

By the end of this article, you should feel more confident using Spanish questions in everyday conversation. It will also help you to formulate the questions correctly.

So, let’s get cracking with this lesson on interrogative pronouns. 

Are you ready?
¿Estas listo?

In this article we will cover:

• What is an interrogative pronoun in Spanish?
• When to use interrogative pronouns
• Practice time 
• Final words

What is an interrogative pronoun in Spanish?

Ok, so first things first. 

What exactly is an interrogative pronoun?

Interrogative pronouns are the words we use to ask questions. They go at the beginning of the question. Interrogative pronouns are always written with an accent and can be used in direct or indirect interrogative sentences. 

Ok, that was a bit of a mouthful. So let’s take a look at some examples. 

Examples: 

• Who is she?
  ¿Quién es ella? 

• Where are the keys?
  ¿Dónde están las llaves?

There are lots of interrogative pronouns in Spanish. Here is a complete list of them:

Interrogative pronoun in English	Interrogative pronoun in Spanish
Who?	¿Quién?
What?	¿Qué?
When?	¿Cuándo?
Where?	¿Dónde?
How?	¿Cómo?
Why?	¿Por qué?
Which?	¿Cuál?
Which ones?	¿Cuáles?
How much?	¿Cuánto?
How many?	¿Cuántos?
To where?	¿Adónde?
To whom?	¿A quién?

When writing questions in Spanish you always need to put an inverted question mark “¿” at the beginning of the question. Then you need to put a regular question mark “?” at the end of the question.

Interrogative pronouns or question words in Spanish are always written with an accent. An accent is included in order to differentiate these interrogative words from relative pronouns such as: 

• Que
• Cual
• Quien

When to use interrogative pronouns

Take a look at the following examples that will help you see how to formulate Spanish questions. 

• Who is she?
  ¿Quién es ella?

• What are you doing?
  ¿Qué estás haciendo?

• When is the Spanish exam?
  ¿Cuándo es el examen de español?

• Where are the keys?
   ¿Dónde están las llaves?

• Why didn’t Ana go to school? 
   ¿Por qué Ana no fue a la escuela?

• How did you do that?
   ¿Cómo hiciste eso?

• What is your favorite food?
  ¿Cuál es tu comida favorita?

• Which are the ingredients for the recipe?
  ¿Cuáles son los ingredientes para la receta?

• How much does that cost? 
   ¿Cuánto vale eso?     

•  How old are you?
  ¿Cuántos años tienes?

• Where are you going?
   ¿Adónde vas?

• Whom can I ask?
  ¿A quién le puedo preguntar?

Practice time

Fill in the blanks with the correct interrogative pronoun

1.   What is this?
¿_______es esto?

2.   Who is she?
¿_______es ella?

3.  When do we go to the park?
¿______ vamos al parque?

4.  Where did you park the car?
¿_______ parqueaste el carro?

5.  Why are you late home?
¿______ llegas tarde a casa?

6.  Where are you?
¿______ estás?

7.  What is your favorite season of the year?
¿_____ es tu estación del año favorita?

8.   What are your dreams?
¿_____ son tus sueños?

9.   How long does it take you?
¿_____te demoras?

10.  How many months is the year?
¿_____ meses tiene el año?

11.  Where is that car going?
¿_____ se dirige ese carro?

12.  Who are you calling?
¿_____ llamas?

Note: The answers to this exercise is at the end of the article

Final words

Nice job! You’ve made it to the end of this unit! And after looking through so many questions, you’ll probably need a break from being asked anything for a long time. So, don’t worry, we’ve got your back. You won’t see any more questions from now on.

So what’s next? 一Sorry, we couldn’t help ourselves. 

It’s time to practice asking questions in Spanish. Try to ask as many questions as you can throughout the day in Spanish so that you can keep using the interrogative words you’ve just learned. It will be tricky to begin with. But practice makes perfect. 

And don’t forget, for more guides on different portions of Spanish grammar, visit the other articles on our blog. 

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Answers

1. ¿Qué es esto?

2. ¿Quién es ella?

3. ¿Cuándo vamos al parque?

4. ¿Dónde parqueaste el carro?

5. ¿Por qué llegas tarde a casa?

6. ¿Dónde estás?

7. ¿Cuál es tu estación del año favorite?

8. ¿Cuáles son tus sueños?

9. ¿Cuánto te demoras?

10. ¿Cuántos meses tiene el año?

11. ¿Adónde se dirige ese carro?

12. ¿A quién llamas?