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QUESTIONS
QUESTIONS
The forms of questions in English are often very different to their equivalents in Spanish.
One difference is that the word order is often different. Por ejemplo:
There is a bar on the corner. Hay un bar en la esquina. BUT: Is there a bar on the corner?
¿Hay un bar en la esquina?.
Sometimes however the word order is the same: (¿Donde está el parque? Where is the
park?)
Another difference is that one must always include the subject in English. - Por ejemplo:
¿Es posible? Is it possible? - ¿Es abogada? Is she a lawyer?
Another important difference is that many questions in English need to use the auxiliary
verb “to do”.
Generally, questions can be considered in several categories: (a) the typical question
words (who, what, when, where, how, why); (b) questions that use a modal verb (will,
would, can, could, shall, should, may, might, must); (c) questions that use the verbs
“have” or “be”; (d) questions that require the auxiliary verb “do” – this type includes
almost all questions that don´t use the words in (b) or (c).
Such questions are usually similar to their equivalents in Spanish, but you always have to
include the subject.
WHO
Who are they? ¿Quienes son ellos? Who was that? ¿Quien fue (eso)?
Who did that? ¿Quien hizo eso? Who does the lawn? ¿Quien corta el cesped?
WHAT
What is that? ¿Qué es eso? What are they? ¿Qué son esas cosas?
What was that? ¿Qué fue eso? What is the time? ¿Qué hora es?
What is going on? ¿Qué está pasando? What happened? ¿Qué pasó?
WHEN
When was the last time you went to England? ¿Cuando fue la última vez que fuiste
a Inglaterra?
WHERE
Where do you live? ¿Donde vives? Where does he live? ¿Donde vive él?
WHY
Why does she take so long to get dressed? ¿Por que tarda tanto para vestirse?
HOW
“How” is the most complicated of the typical question words, but also the most useful –
it includes “cómo”, but is also used in many other questions and phrases.
How are you? ¿Cómo estás?
How long have you been here? ¿Cuanto tiempo llevas aquí?
How long did you live in China? ¿Para cuanto tiempo viviste en China?
How wide are the streets? ¿Qué tan anchas son las calles?
How long does it take to get there? ¿Cuanto tiempo demora para llegar allí?
How often does it rain here? ¿Con qué frecuencia llueve aquí?
(b) Questions with modal verbs (will, would, can, could, should, may, might, must)
Can you swim? (Do you know how to swim?) ¿Sabes nadar?
Must you do that? ¿Es necesario que haces eso? ¿Debes hacer eso?
Will you go to the farm this weekend? ¿Irás a la finca este fin de semana?
Are they ever going to stop playing the music so loud? ¿Alguna vez van a dejar de
poner la música tan fuerte?