¿cuál(es)? which?/what?
¿cómo? how?
¿cuándo? when?
¿cuánto(s)? how much/how many?
¿dónde? where?
¿por qué? why?
¿para qué? what for?
¿qué? what?
¿quién(es)? who?
Note: These words always have a written accent when used as question words.
You will have noticed that some of these words have feminine and plural forms, which
means that they have to agree with the noun to which they refer:
¿Cuáles de los libros son tuyos?
Which of the books are yours?¿Cuántos hermanos tienes?
How many brothers and sisters do you have?¿Cuántas casas hay en la calle?
How many houses are there in the street?¿Quiénes son los autores?
Who are the authors?The personal a with ¿quién?When ¿quién? is used as the direct object (see ‘Glossary of grammatical terms’) of a
verb, you must always put a before it, i.e. ¿a quién?:
¿A quién esperas?
Who(m) are you waiting for?In this sentence, ‘you’ is the subject – i.e. the person who is doing the action of the verb –
and ‘who(m)’ is the direct object – i.e. the person who receives the action of the verb.
No a is required before ¿quién? if it is the subject of the verb:
¿Quién tiene el dinero?
Who has the money?Basic Spanish: A grammar and workbook 38