A1 · Questions and negation
Yes-no questions
The same sentence, two question marks, the voice goes up.
At a glance
- Remember
- The same sentence, two marks, the voice up — a question needs no more.
- Form
- Trabajas en Madrid.statement
- Signal words
- ¿
- ¿verdad?
- ¿no?
- sí
- claro
- Trap
- Wrong:¿Haces hablar español?Right:¿Hablas español?
Your turn
5 exercises on this topic. Your answers are checked in the browser; none of them leaves your device.
Now write it yourself4 sentences on this topic, typed and checked instantly.
The form
The patterns at a glance
Each row first says when or what the pattern is used for, then gives an example in Spanish.
negation question marker
| statement | Trabajas en Madrid. |
| question | ¿Trabajas en Madrid? |
| subject postponed | ¿Vive aquí tu hermano? |
| tag | ¿Verdad? / ¿No? / ¿Vale? |
| answer | Sí, claro. / No, qué va. |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is about
A question needs no auxiliary.
¿Tienes hermanos?Have you got any brothers or sisters?
Two question marks, one of them upside down at the start.
¿Está abierto el museo los lunes?Is the museum open on Mondays?
The subject may go behind the verb.
¿Llega mañana el paquete?Is the parcel arriving tomorrow?
A tag is added with ¿no? or ¿verdad?
Eres alemán, ¿verdad?You are German, aren't you?
Example sentences
¿Puedo pagar con tarjeta?Can I pay by card?
¿Hay una farmacia por aquí cerca?Is there a chemist's near here?
¿Vienes con nosotros o te quedas?Are you coming with us or staying?
Trabajas los sábados, ¿no?You work on Saturdays, don't you?
6 more example sentences
¿Está libre esta mesa?Is this table free?
¿Nos vemos a las siete?Shall we meet at seven?
¿Habéis terminado ya?Have you finished yet?
¿Le importa si abro la ventana?Do you mind if I open the window?
¿Queda café?Is there any coffee left?
Es tu primera vez aquí, ¿verdad?This is your first time here, isn't it?
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
English reaches for «do»: ¿Haces hablar español? Spanish has no such helper verb. The bare sentence with the marks is the whole question, and adding tú does not make it more of one — it only stresses the person: «and you, do you speak it?».
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
A Spanish yes-no question looks exactly like the statement: Hablas español. → ¿Hablas español? No auxiliary comes in and nothing is inverted. In writing there are two question marks; in speech the voice rises at the end.
The upside-down question mark at the start is not an ornament: Spanish inverts nothing, so in a long sentence there would otherwise be no sign until the last word that it was a question at all. Anybody reading aloud needs to know in advance.
The subject may slip behind the verb — ¿Vive aquí tu hermano? — but need not. Both are right, and the postponed form sounds slightly more natural once the subject is a noun.
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