Copy of Week 22 Day 2: Interrogative and Exclamatory Forms
Today’s goal is:
- To learn different questions and exclamation forms in Spanish.
Listen to Week 22 Day 2 Track 1
Mom, I’m leaving.
Where are you going?
I’m going to the movies with Rubén.
What movie are you seeing?
I think it is called El Conjuro.
What type of movie is it?
I think it is horror.
Well, don’t get home too late.
Don’t worry. He’ll drive me home.
Did you finish your homework?
No, I haven’t finished it yet.
When are you going to finish it?
I will finish it tomorrow, okay?
You are so lazy!
Mom, I have to go before the movie starts.
Take care!
Los interrogativos – Question words
We use question words in Spanish to form questions about events, things, and people. They are always accompanied by question marks at the beginning and end of the sentence, and are also accentuated.
Let’s listen to the following examples:
Listen to Week 22 Day 2 Track 2
- ¿Qué sucedió? (What happened?)
- ¿Dónde estás? (Where are you?)
- ¿Cuándo vienes? (When are you coming?)
- ¿Quién es ella? (Who is she?)
There are eight question words in Spanish. Some of them can either be singular or plural, or they can refer to something countable or uncountable. Depending on the context, these question words may have more than one possible English equivalent.
Listen to Week 22 Day 2 Track 3
- ¿Qué? – What? / Which? / How?
- ¿Dónde? – Where?
- ¿Cuándo? – When?
- ¿Quién? / ¿Quiénes? – Who?
- ¿Cómo? – How? / What?
- ¿Por qué? – Why?
- ¿Cuál? / ¿Cuáles? – Which? / What?
- ¿Cuánto? / ¿Cuánta? / ¿Cuántos? / ¿Cuántas? – How much? / How many?
Speaking Practice Exercise 1
Let’s take a look at each question word separately.
We generally use qué to make questions about things, whether they might be something tangible or a concept. We may also use it by itself to ask for repetition, or express surprise or disbelief. If we accompany qué with the adverb tan, we can ask questions about degree.
Listen to Week 22 Day 2 Track 4
- ¿Qué quieres para tu cumpleaños? (What do you want for your birthday?)
- ¿Qué día es la reunión? (What day is the meeting?)
- ¿Qué canción te gusta más? (Which song do you like most?)
- ¿Qué? No te creo. (What? I can’t believe it.)
- ¿Qué tan alto eres? (How tall are you?)
We use dónde to ask questions about a place or location.
Listen to Week 22 Day 2 Track 5
- ¿Dónde pasaste las Navidades? (Where did you spend Christmas?)
- ¿Dónde pusiste mis llaves? (Where did you put my keys?)
- ¿Dónde viste a Patricia? (Where did you see Patricia?)
Cuándo asks about time.
Listen to Week 22 Day 2 Track 6
- ¿Cuándo vienen tus primos? (When are your cousins coming?)
- ¿Cuándo te dije eso? (When did I say that?)
- ¿Cuándo te mudaste a Buenos Aires? (When did you move to Buenos Aires?)
Quién and quiénes ask about people. They are singular and plural respectively.
Listen to Week 22 Day 2 Track 7
- ¿Quién llamó anoche? (Who called last night?)
- ¿Quién te vendió ese libro? (Who sold you that book?)
- ¿Quiénes vienen a la fiesta? (Who is coming to the party?)
We use cómo to ask questions about the way something is done, or someone’s condition. We may also use it by itself to ask for repetition, or express surprise or disbelief. With the verb llamarse, we may use cómo to ask about a person’s name.
Listen to Week 22 Day 2 Track 8
- ¿Cómo aprendiste francés? (How did you learn French?)
- ¿Cómo se prepara esa salsa? (How do you prepare that sauce?)
- ¿Cómo está tu mamá? (How is your mom?)
- ¿Cómo? No te escuché. (What? I didn’t hear you.)
- ¿Cómo te llamas? (What’s your name?)
Por qué asks for reasons or explanations.
Listen to Week 22 Day 2 Track 9
- ¿Por qué estás cansada? (Why are you tired?)
- ¿Por qué no viniste? (Why didn’t you come?)
- ¿Por qué tenemos que comprarle un regalo? (Why do we have to buy him a present?)
We use cuál and cuáles to ask questions about things or people where there are options involved. Keep in mind that cúal can often be interchangeable with qué.
Listen to Week 22 Day 2 Track 10
- ¿Cuáles temporadas ya viste? (Which seasons have you already seen?)
- ¿Cuál prefieres? ¿Este perro o este gato? (Which one do you prefer? This dog or this cat?)
- ¿Cuál es tu color favorito? (What is your favorite color?)
Cuánto is used to ask questions about quantity. Cuánto and cuánta are used with uncountable nouns, masculine and feminine respectively. Cuántos and cuántas are used with countable nouns, masculine and feminine respectively.
Listen to Week 22 Day 2 Track 11
- ¿Cuántos invitados vienen? (How many guests are coming?)
- ¿Cuánto dinero gastaste? (How much money did you spend?)
- ¿Cuántas casas tiene Rodrigo? (How many houses does Rodrigo have?)
Listen to Week 22 Day 2 Track 12
Preguntas con preposiciones – Questions with prepositions
We often use certain prepositions along with question words to ask a variety of things. They always go at the beginning of the sentence, preceding the question word.
Let’s listen the following examples:
- ¿De quién es ese carro? (Whose car is that?)
- ¿Para qué viniste? (Why did you come here?)
- ¿Con quién fuiste a la playa? (Who did you go to the beach with?)
- ¿De qué hablan? (What are you talking about?)
Questions with prepositions in Spanish may be tricky to translate since their English equivalent may be a question word, a different preposition, or no preposition at all.
Listen to Week 22 Day 2 Track 13
- ¿De qué? / ¿Sobre qué? – About what?
- ¿Con quién? / ¿Con quiénes? – With whom?
- ¿De quién? / ¿De quiénes? – Whose?
- ¿Para quién? / ¿Para quiénes? / ¿A quién? / ¿A quiénes? – To whom? / To Who?
- ¿Para qué? – What for? / Why?
De qué and sobre qué ask information about a thing or a topic. De qué may also express time or place of origin.
Listen to Week 22 Day 2 Track 14
- ¿Sobre qué es el documental? (What is the documentary about?)
- ¿De qué es el libro? (What is the book about?)
- ¿De qué país es Juana? (What country is Juana from?)
Con quién and con quiénes ask questions about the people surrounding an action in particular.
Listen to Week 22 Day 2 Track 15
- ¿Con quién pasas las Navidades? (Who do you spend Christmas with?)
- ¿Con quiénes fueron? (Who did you go with?)
- ¿Con quién discutiste? (Who did you argue with?)
We use de quién and de quiénes to talk about ownership.
Listen to Week 22 Day 2 Track 16
- ¿De quién es esa casa? (Whose house is that?)
- ¿De quién es esta tarjeta de crédito? (Whose credit card is this?)
- ¿De quiénes son todas estas fotos? (Whose pictures are these?)
We use para quién and para quiénes to ask about the person in the receiving end of something that is given. A quién and a quiénes ask about those affected by certain actions.
Listen to Week 22 Day 2 Track 17
- ¿A quién llamaste? (Who did you call?)
- ¿Para quién es esa torta? (Who is that cake for?)
- ¿A quiénes despidieron? (Who was fired?)
Para qué asks questions about the purpose of an action or thing.
Listen to Week 22 Day 2 Track 18
- ¿Para qué es esa pastilla? (What is that pill for?)
- ¿Para qué le diste tu número? (What did you give him your number for?)
- ¿Para qué es este dinero? (What is this money for?)
Listen to Week 22 Day 2 Track 19
Los exclamativos – Exclamation words
Exclamation words emphasize a sentence. They go at the beginning of the sentence and have an accent mark. Unlike question words, there aren’t that many exclamation words. Qué, cómo and cuánto are the most common ones.
Let’s listen to the following examples:
- ¡Qué fastidio! (How annoying!)
- ¡Cómo cocinas! (How well you cook!)
- ¡Cuánta felicidad! (I’m so happy!)
We use qué to emphasize feelings, whether they might be good or bad.
Listen to Week 22 Day 2 Track 20
- ¡Qué desastre de ensayo! (What a disaster of an essay!)
- ¡Qué hermoso tu corte! (How beautiful your haircut looks!)
- ¡Qué buena idea! (What a great idea!)
Cómo emphasizes an action or a quality.
Listen to Week 22 Day 2 Track 21
- ¡Cómo eres de inteligente! (How smart you are!)
- ¡Cómo bailas salsa! (How well you dance salsa!)
- ¡Cómo tienes el cuarto de desordenado! (What a mess your room is!)
Cuánto emphasizes degree or number. Cuánta, cuántos, and cuántas are its variations.
Listen to Week 22 Day 2 Track 22
- ¡Cuánto odio el brócoli! (How I hate broccoli!)
- ¡Cuánta pena escuchar eso! (How sorry I am to hear that!)
- ¡Cuántos libros! (So many books!)
Speaking Practice Exercise 2
WEEK 22 DAY 2 REVIEW:
Today we went over question words and exclamation words. Remember the English equivalent of these words may vary depending on the context.