Interrogative Pronouns - Question Words

¿Qué? – what? and ¿De qué…? – from what…?

This pronoun is used a lot in Spanish. Examples: ¿Qué tal? (how are you?) ¿Qué es eso? (what is that?) ¿Qué es esto? (what is this?) ¡Qué bien! (good or great!) ¿Qué quieres? (what do you want?) ¿Qué ves? (what do you see?) ¿Qué hora es? (what time is it?) ¿Qué día es hoy? (what day is today?) ¿Qué día es mañana? (what day is tomorrow?) ¿Qué clase es? (what class is it?) ¿Qué necesitas? (what do you need? – "tú" implied: ¿Qué necesitas tú?) ¿Qué necesitan ellos? (what do they need?) ¿Qué necesitan ustedes? (what do you need? – plural) ¿Qué necesita ella? (what does she need?) ¿Qué quiere decir…? (what does… mean?) i.e. ¿Qué quiere decir “door”? When asking a question ¿Qué...? must have an accent on the “é” – tilde.

You can use the verbs “ser” y “estar” with “¿Qué…?” But it varies depending on what you’re trying to say. You can also use ¿Qué…? with many other verbs; but when translating “what is… (something)?” “what is this?” “what is that?” “what day is today?” “what class is this?” you ALWAYS use the “verbo ser” NOT the “verbo estar.” ¿Qué es esto? ¿Qué es eso? ¿Qué día es hoy? ¿Qué clase es? etc. Little by little you will learn when to use “ser” and when to use “estar.” You can ask: ¿Qué pasa? (what's happening?) ¿Qué estás haciendo? (what are you doing?) ¿Qué está haciendo él? (what is he doing?) ¿Qué está haciendo María? ¿Qué está pasando? (what is happening?) ¿Qué tienes en tu mochila? (what do you have in your backpack?) ¿Qué hay en tu pupitre? (what do you have on your desk?) ¿Qué hora es? (what time is it?)

You can also use the preposition “de” before “qué:” ¿De qué color es el libro? (what color is the book?) ¿De qué color es la blusa? (what color is the blouse?) ¿De qué país eres? (“tú” implied) ¿De qué país son ellos? (from what/which country is she from? and what country are they from?) ¿De qué ciudad eres tú? (from what/which city are you from?) Check pages 62 and 73.You can also use the preposition “a” before “qué:” ¿A qué hora termina la clase de español? (at what time does the Spanish class end?) Check page 70.

¿Dónde? – where? and ¿De dónde? – from where?

“Dónde” is also accented when asking a question. You can use “dónde” when asking “where is it?” - ¿Dónde está? ¿Dónde está el libro? ¿Dónde están las sillas? ¿Dónde está el bolígrafo? ¿Dónde está el pupitre? ¿Dónde está el reloj? ¿Dónde está Filadelfia? ¿Dónde está mi computadora? ¿Dónde está el profesor? etc. Notice that here you use the verbo “estar” only. You use “estar” when referring to LOCATION and to STATE OF BEING (like in ¿Cómo estás? Estoy bien gracias). So, if you only have the question word “dónde” you can simply ask ¿dónde? (where?) or ¿dónde está…? (where is…?) Please check pages 76 and 79 of your Spanish textbook. But you could also ask: ¿Dónde es el concierto? ¿Dónde es la reunión? ¿Dónde es la clase? Because we're referring her to an EVENT (place of an event).

If you want to ask: where is he or she from? Then you must use “¿de dónde…?” and you use the verb “ser” only, not the verb “estar.” Any time you have “¿de dónde…?” you use “ser.”¿De dónde es Pablo? (where is Pablo from?) ¿De dónde es esa chica? (where is that girl from?) ¿De dónde eres? (“tú” implied - ¿De dónde eres tú?) (where are you from?) ¿De dónde son ellos? (where are they from?) ¿De dónde son Mario y Fernando? (subject pronoun: “ellos”) etc.

I had given you a two-page hand-out with questions used in Capítulo 2 (also in Edmodo as "ch2_q_a.docx"). Please review it and try to understand the questions. See if you can easily translate them. If not, I suggest that you check this chapter again. Also know how to answer these questions. Review other question words like ¿cómo…” (¿Cómo te llamas? ¿Cómo estás? etc.) and ¿quién…? ¿quiénes…? (¿Quién es él? ¿Quién es ella? ¿Quién es la chica con la profesora? ¿Quiénes son esos muchachos? etc.)

Other questions words used in this Chapter are ¿Cuál…? (which…?) Check pages 72 and 74. See if you can come up with other questions and answer them.

Please check again "Verbos Ser y Estar" (click on this link - to review when to use "ser" and when to use "estar"). You must have this information in your notebook. Remember: take some time to organize your notes (I won't check you notebook). It will help you to study more effectively. If you have any questions, please ask Mrs. Feld.

THIS MATERIAL WON'T BE ON MONDAY'S (12/3/12) TEST. But you must study it for a future test. The test of December 3rd will include: COLORS (and how to use them in sentences), SCHOOL SUBJECTS, the word NUEVO (and how to use it in sentences), ARTICLES OF CLOTHING (and how to use the word LLEVAR), the exercises from the textbook that Mrs. Feld asked you to do for homework that include VERBOS -AR (and how to conjugate different -AR VERBS in order to complete sentences like the ones in the textbook and the ones we did in class). And also REVIEW THE QUIZZES AND THE PREVIOUS ENTRY ON CAPÍTULO 2 - LECCIÓN B!

Quick Review on "Verbos Ser y Estar" (when do you use "Ser" and when do you use "Estar"):

Ser: 1. Origin (of a person or thing), 2. Identification, 3. Characteristics, 4. Telling time and Date, 5. Event (time and/or place and 6. Possession, Material with the preposition "de."
Estar: 1. Location (of a person or thing) - where you are, 2. Conditions and feelings (how you feel), 3. Impressions,opinions.

Please study the PowerPoint presentation "Ser y Estar." I will download it again in Edmodo. (SAVE IT IN YOUR COMPUTER AT HOME AND IN SCHOOL AND WRITE EVERYTHING IN YOUR NOTEBOOKS). Writing things down will help you remember. Write what you think is more important in index cards too.