NexoQuestions & time
Building useful Spanish questions
Choose a question structure from the information you actually need.
Spanish does not need an equivalent of English do or does. Begin with a complete Spanish idea, frame it as a question, and add qué, quién, cuál, dónde, cuándo, cómo, por qué, or cuánto only when that missing information calls for it.
The useful model
Start with meaning, then choose the form.
A question is an information job. Yes-or-no questions ask whether a complete idea is true; information questions replace one missing part of that idea with a precise question word.
Build from Spanish instead of translating English word order. Trabajas aquí can become ¿Trabajas aquí? without adding a helper verb, while ¿Dónde trabajas? replaces the unknown place with dónde.
Decision routine
Work through the message in a dependable order.
Name the missing information
Decide whether you need confirmation, a person, a thing, a choice, a place, a time, a manner, a reason, or a quantity.
Choose the question frame
Use question marks for confirmation or place the matching accented question word at the front.
Keep a real Spanish verb
Conjugate the verb for its subject and do not invent a translation of English do or does.
Check the idea
Can you explain the decision?
You want to ask which class a friend prefers from several options. Should you use qué or cuál?
Reveal the answer
Cuál asks the listener to identify or select one possibility from a known set.
Learn it in context