Interrogative and Exclamatory Words

There are several different ways to ask questions in Spanish. Let's learn a little more about them as well as about how to emphasize or give more emotion to sentences.

Question and Exclamation Marks in Spanish. Are there two?

Rule 1. You have probably already noticed that Spanish uses a second question mark or exclamation point at the beginning of sentences, in contrast to other languages, which only use one at the end.

The mark that goes at the beginning of an exclamatory or interrogative sentence is called the opening mark or signo de apertura.

As you might guess, the mark that goes at the end of an exclamatory or interrogative sentence is called the closing mark or signo de cierre.

Let's look at an example:

In formal speech, both punctuation marks must be used. However, in informal written language, such as in text messages, it is common to see Spanish speakers using only the closing sign.

Asking Questions in Spanish - The Simple Form

Rule 2. There are different ways to ask questions in Spanish. The simplest way is by changing the tone of voice (in the spoken language) or by adding question marks to a sentence in the written language.

As you can see in the example, in English, the conjugated form of the verb to be, "are," moves to the beginning of the sentence. In Spanish, this is not always necessary -- in this example, the addition of the question marks was enough.

Asking Questions in Spanish - Using Interrogative Words

Rule 3. When asking a question, you can't always just add a question mark. Sometimes, you also need to use an interrogative word. In Spanish, there are two types: interrogative pronouns and interrogative adverbs.

*These pronouns have singular and plural forms.

Rule 4. Interrogative words must have the correct accent mark. This is very important, because it differentiates them from relative pronouns and other words. In the case of cómo, for example, it differentiates it from the verb comer in the first person (yo como).

Por qué, Porqué, and Porque

Rule 5. Although these words are very similar and are used to express the reason, they cannot be used interchangeably, as they have different functions.

Por qué - An interrogative composed of the preposition por and the pronoun que written separately with an accent. It is used in questions to know the reason for something.

Porqué - This one is similar to the interrogative por qué. However, it has the function of a noun and is therefore accompanied by an article.

Porque - This one is not used to question something or someone -- rather, it is a conjunction used to explain the cause or reason.

Working with Exclamatory Sentences

Rule 6. Once you are familiar with interrogative pronouns and adverbs, it will be much easier to work with forming exclamatory sentences, since some of the same words are used. However, exclamatory sentences, by their very nature, are almost always limited to the use of just qué and cómo.

Rule 7. As with interrogatives, exclamatives must carry an accent mark.

Rule 8. In the case of an exclamatory sentence, it is more common to simply add exclamation marks or change the tone of voice, as seen in the simple way of asking questions section.