Questions in Spanish with pronunciation. Interrogative sentences in Spanish. A simple sentence and its structure

As a rule, the construction and order of words in Spanish sentences do not cause difficulties, since they are as close as possible to Russian (unlike English, for example). The Spanish language does not assume a special pattern, but there are still some nuances regarding interrogative sentences.

An interrogative sentence has two construction options.

First way

If a sentence contains a general question, then the word order is usually indirect. That is, in this case, the verb comes first before the subject. For example.

¿Duermen los niños? - Kids are sleeping?
¿Vas a la estación? -Are you going to the station?
¿Lee Usted el libro? – Are you reading a book?
¿Piensas en el divorcio? – Are you thinking about divorce?

If the interrogative sentence is also negative at the same time, then again there is nothing complicated. The negation “not” is placed together with the verb in first place.

¿No duermen los niños? – The children don’t sleep?
¿No vas a la estación? -Aren't you going to the station?
¿No lee Usted el libro? -Are you not reading a book?
¿No piensas en el divorcio? -Aren't you thinking about divorce?

If the predicate is nominal, then the subject, which is expressed by a personal pronoun, is placed between the linking verb and the nominal part of the predicate. For example.

¿Es Usted italiano? - Are you Italian?
¿Es una chica guapa? – Is she an attractive girl?
¿Eres muy generoso? - You are very generous?
¿Eres feliz? - Are you happy?

The same is true in cases where the interrogative sentence is negative.

¿No es Usted italiano? -Aren't you Italian?
¿No es una chica guapa? – She’s not an attractive girl?
¿No eres muy generoso? -Are you not very generous?
¿No eres feliz? -Aren't you happy?

There are also sentences that begin with question words such as: what (qué), where (d ó nde), where (ad ó nde), from where (de d ó nde), why (por qué), when (сuándo) and so on. Note that they all have accent marks. This is their characteristic feature. If they are used without an accent mark, then they serve as comparative pronouns.

In this case, the construction rule is similar to the first example. That is, the verb is placed in front of the noun, but is placed after the question word. For example.

¿Cuándo vas a la estación? – When will you go to the station?
¿Qué quieres comprar en la tienda? -What do you want to buy in the store?
¿Por qué lees este libro? – Why are you reading this book?
¿Cuál de las camisas es tuya? -Which shirt is yours?

If there is a negation, they will be constructed as follows:

¿Cuándo no vas a la estación? - When will you not go to the station?
¿Que no quieres comprar en la tienda? – What don’t you want to buy in the store? (This means that you are such and such, you don’t want to buy! - with dissatisfaction)
¿Por qué no lees este libro? – Why don’t you read this book?
¿Cuál camisa no es tuya? – Which shirt is not yours?

That is, in any case, the negation is always placed before the verb, wherever it is located in the sentence.

I also have two forms of answers to questions: full and short. For example.

That is, the full answer implies repetition of the sentence when answering completely, and the short form means only a superficial answer.

Second way

The second method is much simpler and does not require any effort on the part of the speaker. In this case, all words remain in their places and do not require any rearrangement. For example.

El museo está a la derecha, ¿no? – The museum is located on the right, isn’t it?
El vestido es muy bonito, ¿verdad? – The dress is very beautiful, isn’t it?
Ella es muy simpática, ¿verdad? – She’s very pretty, isn’t she?
No tienes bolsa, no? – You don’t have a bag, do you?

You just need to ask a question by changing the intonation in your voice. Moreover, the intonation should increase on the last question words ¿no? and ¿verdad?

To consolidate the learned information, you can perform several exercises.

Tasks

Exercise No. 1. Transform the given declarative sentences into interrogative form by changing the shape of the face (by converting the pronoun “I” to the pronoun “you”, for example).

No tengo tiempo. - I have no time.
Soy feliz. - I'm happy.
Estamos tristes. - We are sad.
Quiero leer el libro. – I want to read a book.
No puedo ayudarte. - I can not help you.

Answers:

¿Tienes tiempo? - You have time?
¿Eres feliz? - Are you happy?
¿Estas triste? -Are we sad?
¿Quieres leer el libro? – Do you want to read a book?
¿Puedes ayudarme? - You can help me?

Exercise No. 2. Answer the following questions using three answer forms: positive, negative and short negative respectively.

¿Eres belga? -Are you Belgian?
¿Es él muy generoso? – Is he very generous?
¿Es Usted ruso? - You are Russian?

Answers:

Sí, soy belga. - Yes, I'm Belgian.
No, no es muy generoso. - No, he is not very generous.
No, no lo soy. - No. (Literally: I am not one).

Below we provide a list of Spanish question words. Try to memorize the first ten now, and the rest gradually. Please note that Spanish questions are preceded by an inverted question mark and followed by a regular question mark.

¿Qué? - What?

¿Quien? - Who?

¿Cómo? - How?

¿Cuándo? - When?

¿Cuánto? - How many?

¿Dónde? - Where?

¿A donde? - Where?

¿De donde? - where?

¿Cuál? – Which (which, which)?

¿Porqué? - Why?

¿Para qué? - For what?

¿Con quién? - with whom?

¿Quién es? - who is this?

¿Dónde estamos? - Where are we?

¿Dónde est?? - where is it?

¿A qué hora? - At what time?

¿Qué hora es? - What time is it now?

¿Me lete? - Will you allow me?

¿Cuánto tiempo? - How long?

¿Ya? - Already?

¿Es verdad? - This is true?

¿Tiene usted...? - You have...?

As you can see, question words differ from conjunctions in the presence of graphic stress. For example, qué– this is the word “what” in the question ( What are you eating?), and que is the word “what” in a complex sentence (he knows What you are eating).

Special question in Spanish

Special questions are asked using the question words listed above. To ask a special question, use reverse word order, that is, put the question word first, then the predicate, then the subject.

For example, Qué compra Elena?– What does Elena buy?

Exercises. Question words in Spanish

Exercise 1: Translate into Spanish

What is Igor doing? Igor is walking. Who is at home? Mom is at home. Where do we go? We go to the movies. What do you do on the weekend? On weekends I usually play football.

Exercise 2: Translate into Spanish and come up with answers

What is on the table? Where do you live? What are they drinking? What words are you learning?

Exercise 3. Make up a dialogue (about 3-5 lines) about a hobby

We still ask you not to be shy, post your answers and help others!.. Together it’s more interesting and effective.

Exercise 4. Review personal pronouns

Interrogative pronouns are always used with emphasis.

Basic interrogative pronouns

¿Qué – What?

¿Qué vas a comprar? – What are you going to buy?

¿Qué – Which one?

¿Qué película vas a ver? – What movie are you going to watch?
¿Qué color es? - What is color?

¿Quién – Who?

“Quién está aquí?” - Who is there?

¿Dónde – Where?

¿Dónde lives? - Where do you live?

¿A dónde - Where?

What do you think? - Where are you going?

¿De donde - From where?

¿De donde vienes? - Where are you going from now?

¿Cómo – Which one?

What do you think? – What kind of boy is he?

¿Cómo – How?

¿Cómo están tus padres? – How are your parents?

¿Cuándo – When?

¿Cuándo nos llama? – When will he call us?

¿Cuánto(s) / ¿Cuánta(s) – How much?

¿Cuánto cuesta? – How much does it cost?
¿Cuánto se puede...? / ¿Cuánto se puede repetir? – How can…? / How many times can you repeat?
¿Cuánto quiere ganar? / ¿Cuánto le gustaría ganar? – How much would you like to receive?
¿Cuántas personas hay aquí? – How many people are here?
¿Cuántas clases tienes hoy? – How many classes do you have today?

¿Cuál – Which one? Which?

¿Cuál es tu color favorito? – What (which) is your favorite color?

Explanations

¿Cómo – Which one? How?

The question "¿Cómo?" may refer to noun or verbs. By asking a question with this word, we are asking characterize any object, and in the case of verbs - an action.

¿Cómo es tu casa? – What is your home? (We ask you to describe the house: is it big, what color is it, is it cozy, etc.)
¿Cómo son las chicas en España? – What are the girls like in Spain? (For example, are they beautiful? What is their character? etc.)
What is it like in Russia? – What is winter like in Russia?

¿Qué – What? Which?

¿Qué dices? - What are you saying?
¿Qué hace tu hermano? – What is your brother doing?
¿Qué quieren Vds. de postre? – What would you like for dessert?

¿Qué – Which one? (What the?)

Asking a question with "¿Qué?" in this meaning, we do not ask for a description of any object (unlike “¿Cómo?”), but we ask for it specify, name his name. Therefore, in this case the question “¿Qué?” similar to the Russian question “What the?”

¿Qué coche tienes? – What is your car? / What kind of car do you have? (This does not mean the color of the car, not its external or driving characteristics, but the brand. We ask you to clarify the brand of the car.)
¿Qué libro lees? – What book are you reading? / What kind of book? (What is the title of the book?)
What do you think? – What day is today?

¿Cuál? ¿Cuales – Which one? Which? Which? Which?

The word "¿Cuál?" we ask highlight an item from a number of similar items.

¿Cuál es tu coche? – What's your car? (For example, we are in a parking lot with a lot of cars, and we want to ask which one belongs to this person)
¿Cuál es tu actor favorito? – Who's your favorite actor?

Often the meanings of interrogative pronouns “¿Cuál?” and "¿Qué?" very similar. To understand the difference, you need to remember that after “¿Cuál?” must definitely go verb ser. You can’t say “¿Cuál capital es de España?” While after "¿Qué?" we must deliver immediately noun, and behind him anyone verb:

¿Qué hora es? – What time is it now?

They don’t sound or say “¿Cuál es hora?”

¿Qué película veis? – What movie are you watching?

Learning any language, including Spanish, is work that must begin with grammar, the basics. You can pronounce words perfectly, correctly place semantic accents and intonations, but without knowledge of tenses, declensions and conjugations, speech will be clumsy and incomprehensible. Often, students who start learning Spanish have fear in their eyes: there are so many nuances that need to be remembered. As they say, fear has big eyes. A thoughtful step-by-step immersion in grammar resolves all controversial issues, helps you understand the language and master all the key points.

It is impossible to cover a comprehensive course of Spanish grammar in one article; we tried to reveal its main aspects and emphasize its distinctive features with other Romance languages. Now, in order.

Basic Spanish Grammar

At the initial stages, it is important to gradually immerse yourself in the process. Learning grammar on your own is difficult. Much depends on the program and training materials, which must be compiled by professionals. If you don’t like the format of the courses, work with a tutor who will teach you the basics and make a list of books and workbooks.

What you need to know about Spanish grammar:

When composing a sentence, the subject, which is the subject, performs the action described by the verb. This ligament is found in almost all complete structures, with rare exceptions.
Spanish has articles - function words that are used before nouns and define the subject. Thus, articles related to the masculine gender are el, and those related to the feminine gender are la.
In the relationship between a verb and a subject as a subject, the first must be consistent in person and number - that is, in Spanish, as in Russian, conjugation rules apply: I’m in a hurry to work, he’s in a hurry to work, they’re in a hurry to work, you’re in a hurry to work.

There are exceptions - irregular verbs that cannot be conjugated.

Spanish verbs are conjugated according to tense categories: future, past, present.

A simple sentence and its structure

The sentence is the main part of speech, from which dialogues, monologues, articles, essays, letters (official and not so official) are made up. To interest your interlocutor, first of all, you need to learn how to express yourself competently. We'll tell you how to express your thoughts in one sentence.

Just like in Russian, the main active elements of Spanish sentences are the subject and the predicate. They act in an inextricable connection, but at the same time they may not be located nearby, in the vicinity of additions or circumstances. Here are some examples:

La casa es grande. Here the subject is La casa, the predicate is es, the modifier is grande. In Russian the predicate is omitted: the house is big. The subject performs classical functions - it is an object in relation to which the predicate performs specific actions. In Spanish, the subject can only be expressed by a noun or pronoun, as in many other languages. The predicate is a verb.

Negative sentences are formed using the particle no:

El perro no es bueno - The dog is not kind;
El coche no es nuevo - The car is not new.

Structure of interrogative sentences

Everything is simple here. To make an interrogative sentence, you only need to put the verb in the subject position - swap them. To do this, you do not need to use additional articles and particles. Here's an example:

Ésta es la puerta - This is the door;
Es ésta la puerta? - Is this a door?

To answer a question with a statement, put yes at the beginning of the sentence:

Es la escuela nueva? - Is the school new?
Sí, la escuela es nueva - Yes, the school is new.

If you want to answer in the negative, instead si we use no.

Another feature of Spanish grammar is that in interrogative sentences the definitions are ahead of the predicates and come before them:

Es bella la mujer? - Is the woman beautiful?
Son anchas las calles? - Are the streets wide?

The difference between the structure of English sentences and Spanish ones is the absence of auxiliary verbs (do, did, does):

Vas al cine? - Are you going to the cinema?
Va tu padre al cine? - Is your father going to the cinema?

Use of personal pronouns

Personal pronouns in Spanish play the same role as in Russian. They are used in a sentence as analogues of subjects in the form of nouns. Let's give an example: A girl is getting ready for school - She is getting ready for school. Here the personal pronoun She replaces the subject Girl.

Often, in context, personal pronouns replace nouns - when it is already clear who the text is talking about. This allows you to avoid repetitions and convey your thoughts more clearly without unnecessary explanations. Spanish has the same system - you do not need to constantly use personal pronouns if they have previously been used in previous sentences (unlike English). Verbs in Spanish change in conjugation according to persons; in the text it is immediately clear which pronoun they refer to.
Singular personal pronouns:

yo- I
tú- You
usted- You
el- He
ella- she.

Personal pronouns in the plural:

nosotros- We
vosotros- You
ustedes- You (politely)
ellos- they (masculine)
ellas- they (feminine).

One of the features of Spanish and the difference from the Russian language is the absence of the personal pronoun It.

Pronoun yo

We are talking about the pronoun I, which in Russian always acts as a predicate in a sentence. In Spanish, the yo function is the same, only it is often omitted - it is implied, but not used in the text. For example: (Yo) Me voy. - I'm leaving.

Pronouns nosotros and nosotras

These pronouns are used when talking about oneself and at the same time about someone. In Russian - We. The form nosotros speaks of the plural when there are both men and women in the group. The use of nosotras according to the rules is only possible in relation to the feminine gender:

Jorge y yo (nosotros) jugamos al tenis. Jorge and I (we) play tennis.
Luz y yo (nosotras) jugamos al tenis. Luce and I (we) play tennis.

Pronouns You and You (tú/usted)

We translate into Russian the scheme for using personal pronouns. When we say You, Spaniards - tú. The meaning You also has a respectful form - usted, which is used when addressing older people or as part of business ethics. It is customary to address children in Spanish as tú.

In communication between people, the usted form quickly transforms into tú - when the relationship develops into friendship. If you want to maintain subordination, keep distance between the interlocutor, it is better to use usted.

Examples of sentences with two forms:

How about se llama usted? What is your (respectful) name?
Vas tú con Juan en el auto? Will you go with Juan in the car?

Peculiarities of using the pronoun vosotros

This form of the personal pronoun You is used mainly in Spain. In other countries with Spanish-speaking populations, vosotros is included in the curriculum in schools, but is not used in everyday speech. So Latin Americans as you say ustedes. This trend is explained by the blurring of the boundaries between the formal and informal forms of you (plural).

This pronoun is used when in a dialogue a person addresses a group of people at once. Vosotros is the normative plural of the form tú. As mentioned above, in live speech ustedes is pronounced, which implies both a polite and a simple colloquial form:

Adónde van ustedes dos? Where are you two going?
Ustedes van conmigo, ¿Verdad? You guys will come with me. Fine?

Important note: If you want to use usted and ustedes as shorthand, they are always capitalized: Ud. (usted) and Uds. (ustedes). So in writing, according to the rules, it must be pronounced in full.

Dispute between ellos and ellas

The rule says: ellos (in Russian they) is used to refer to men and women in a group. The difference between the pronoun ellas is that it is used strictly in relation to a group of female persons. Here's an example:

Juan y Jorge (ellos) escuchan. Juan and Jorge (they) are listening.
Luz y Susana (ellas) escuchan. Luce and Susana (they) are listening.

Regular and irregular Spanish verbs

Let's start with the endings that are characteristic of the infinitive form of verbs - infinitives. In Spanish these are combinations -ar, -er or -ir. Regardless of how the infinitives end, the verb, in turn, can be either regular or irregular. The conjugation rules of both groups are different from each other.

Regular verb conjugation:

The conjugation pattern is easy to understand and remember. It is enough to learn how the verb changes to -ar, and you will be able to conjugate other words of the group expressed in the indefinite form without any problems. The same applies to verbs ending in -ir and -er. Everything is logically connected.

Conjugation of irregular verbs:

Here the situation is more complicated. Verbs often behave unpredictably. You will have to learn the irregular forms of each verb, otherwise you will make mistakes. They will understand your speech, the meaning will be preserved due to the other components of the sentence, but the sentence will sound ugly and illiterate. Therefore, try to remember all the endings well.

What you need to know about regular verbs

When conjugating Spanish verbs, their base - the root - does not change, is not shortened, and does not lose a single letter. For example: preparar (translated into Russian - to cook) is an already modified form with the ending -ar. Let's look at other conjugation options: yo preparo; él, ella, usted prepara; tú preparations; vosotros, vosotras preparáis; nosotros, nosotras preparamos; ellos, ellas, ustedes preparan.

Now let's look at how verbs are conjugated in the correct form of the present tense ending in -er using the example of comprender (translated into Russian - to understand): yo comprendo; tú comprendes; él, ella, usted comprende; nosotros, nosotras comprendemos; vosotros, vosotras comprendéis; ellos, ellas, ustedes comprenden.

And let's talk about changing verbs to -ir in the correct present tense form. Let's break down the options with the word aburrir (to bother): yo aburro; tú aburres; él, ella, usted aburre; nosotros, nosotras aburrimos; vosotros, vosotras aburrís; ellos, ellas, ustedes aburren.

If you are just getting acquainted with the Spanish language and are still “swimming” in grammar, try to construct sentences in the present tense, these forms are easier to use and easiest to remember.

Irregular Verbs

Studying the conjugation of these verbs must be taken seriously; it is more difficult to remember than the correct ones. The main thing is to follow the diagram, which describes all the forms with endings. Carry the sign with you as a hint until you have it memorized.

Let's consider an example with the word tener (translated into Russian - to have). The root is ten, changing in the present tense to the forms tien and teng. Here you can see a pattern similar to the conjugation of regular verbs ending in er.

Here are some examples:

yo tengo; tú tienes; él, ella, usted tiene; nosotros, nosotras tenemos; vosotros, vosotras tenéis; ellos, ellas, ustedes tienen.

It is best to memorize the conjugation scheme for irregular verbs - this way you will avoid mistakes in sentence construction, combination with subject, attribute and object.

When starting to learn Spanish grammar, don’t try to grasp the immensity. This is impossible. Step-by-step immersion in the topic and practicing the material in practice will help you master the basics of the language and achieve a fluent conversational level.

All interrogative pronouns in Spanish are written with a graphic stress mark, which is retained in an indirect question (see “Indirect speech”). Basic interrogative pronouns:

¿qué?+ verb What?

¿Qué quieres decirme? - What do you want to tell me?
¿Qué va a tomar, té o café? - What will you drink, tea or coffee?
What is it? - What is this?
¿Para qué me lo dices? - Why are you telling me this?

¿qué?+ noun which one? Can be used after prepositions:

¿Qué hora es? - What time is it now?
¿A qué hora empieza el partido de fútbol? - What time does the football match start?
¿Qué monumento está en la plaza de España en Madrid? - Which monument is located in Plaza de España in Madrid?
¿Qué color te gusta más? - What color do you like best?
¿En qué curso estudias? - What course are you studying?
¿En qué hotel se ha alojado usted? - What hotel did you stay at?

¿quién/-es? Who? This pronoun has a plural form. Can be used after prepositions:

¿Quién es el autor de esta obra? - Who is the author of this work?
¿Quién ganó en los últimos Juegos Olímpicos? - Who won the last Olympic Games?
¿Quiénes son esos muchachos en la foto? - Who are these guys in the photo?
¿A quién has escrito la carta? - Who did you write the letter to?
¿Por quién pregunta usted? - Who are you looking for?
¿Con quién está hablando Pedro? - Who is Pedro talking to?

quién used when you need to ask about a person’s name or family relationship, and qué- when they want to know about someone’s profession:

¿Quién es? - Es mi padre. - Who is this? - Its my father.
¿Qué es usted? - Soy arquitecto. - Who you are? - I'm an architect.
¿Quién es esa muchacha? - Es Maria. - Who's that girl? - This is Maria.
¿Y qué es? - Es estudiante de la facultad de letras. - What does she do? - She is a student of the Faculty of Philology.

¿сuál/-es?+ verb which of...?, which of...? The question can refer to both persons and objects. Has a plural form:

¿Cuál es el más difícil de estos problemas? - Which of these problems is the most difficult?
¿Puedo probar estos zapatos? - ¿Cuáles quiere probar, los negros o los marrones? - Can I try on these shoes? - Which ones do you want to try on, black or brown?
Me preguntan cuál es mi amiga. - They ask me which (out of those present) is my friend?

¿cuánto/-a/-os/-as?+ verb or noun how much? When used with a noun, it agrees with it in gender and number:

¿Cuánto dura el viaje en tren de Barcelona a París? - How long will it take to travel by train from Barcelona to Paris?
¿Cuánto cuesta una habitación individual en este hotel?- How much does a room cost per person in this hotel?
¿Cuánto tiempo nos queda? - How much time do we have left?
¿Cuánta gente llegará al mitin? - How many people will come to the rally?
¿Cuántos años tienes? - How old are you?
¿Cuántas facultades tiene la Universidad de Moscú? - How many faculties are there at Moscow University?

¿сómo? how?, how? Used only with a verb:

What do you think? - How are you?
¿Cómo te llamas? - What is your name?
¿Cómo se puede llegar al aeropuerto? - How can I get to the airport?
¿Cómo se escribe esta palabra? - How is this word spelled?

What? Where? Used alone with a verb. May be used after prepositions What? Where, What do you mean? where:

What do you think? - Where are you now?
¿Dónde vive María? - Where does Maria live?
¿Adónde va usted? - Where are you going?
¿Adónde te marcharás para descansar el año que viene? - Where will you go on vacation next year?
¿De donde vienes? - Where are you going from now?
¿De donde eres? - Where you're from?

What? When? Can be used after prepositions ¿desde cuándo? since when, What's wrong? until when (until what time):

¿Cuándo podemos visitar a nuestro amigo enfermo? - When can we visit our sick friend?
¿Cuándo empezaron a editar esta revista? - When did this magazine start publishing?
¿Desde cuándo estudias español? - Since when have you been studying Spanish?
¿Hasta cuándo vas a decirme esas tonterías? - How long will you continue to tell me these nonsense?

What about? Why?:

¿Por qué me lo preguntas? - Why are you asking me this?
¿Por qué no está Miguel en las clases? - Why isn't Miguel in class?

Interrogative pronouns in exclamatory sentences

Interrogative pronouns qué, quién, cuánto, como used in exclamatory sentences. At the same time, the graphic accent mark is retained on them:

¡Qué maravilla es esa catedral! - What a wonderful cathedral!
¡Qué bonitos ojos tienes! - What beautiful eyes you have!
¡Qué frio hace hoy! - How cold it is today!
¡Qué gusto verte sano y salvo! - I am so glad to see you in full health.
¡Qué antipática es esa dependienta! - What an unfriendly saleswoman!
¡Cómo te has cambiado, hombre! - How you have changed, my friend!
¡Quién lo pensaría! - Who would have thought!
¡Cuánto habla esa señora! - How much this lady talks!
¡Cuánto me alegro de que me hayas invitado! - I'm so glad you invited me!