In writing, question marks are used at the beginning and end of the interrogative
sentence.31.1.2 Subject-verb
This type of question, with the subject in the first place, as in an ordinary statement, is
very frequent in Spanish, much more so than in English. Speakers may or may not be
certain what the answer will be, but if there is a fair degree of certainty, they are more
likely to use this type of question rather than the preceding one. The intonation, again,
must be rising and not falling, as it would be in a statement.
¿Louise habla español?
Does Louise speak Spanish?
¿Alfredo viene mañana?
Is Alfredo coming tomorrow?
¿Usted no es español?
You aren’t Spanish?
With longer subjects, the tendency is to isolate the subject by means of a slight pause at
the end of it, with the rising intonation falling on the rest of the sentence.Y tus padres, (slight pause)¿se han enterado?
And have your parents found out?
El edificio de la calle Mayor, (slight pause)¿tiene ascensor?
Does the building on calle Mayor have a lift?31.1.3 Statement+¿verdad? or ¿no?
Questions of this type are normally used in speech when speakers are almost certain
about the response and are merely seeking confirmation of their statements.¿Verdad?
and¿no? are interchangeable and they correspond in English to question tags such as
‘isn’t it?’, ‘aren’t you?’, ‘do they?’, ‘did she?’. As regards intonation for these types of
questions, the first element, that is, the statement, has a falling intonation, while
¿verdad? or¿no? carry a rising tone.
Hablas inglés, ¿verdad?
You speak English, don’t you?
No eres de aquí, ¿verdad?
You’re not from here, are you?
Es simpático, ¿no?
He’s nice isn’t he?
Hace mucho calor, ¿no?
It’s very hot, isn’t it?12.9 (p. 51)
ASKING QUESTIONS AND RESPONDING 31.1