Spanish grammar · Beginner (A1)
Questions and negation
How to ask yes/no questions and questions with question words, and how to say “not”, “never” and “nothing” in Spanish.
Yes/no questions
In speech, you usually make a question just by raising your voice at the end. The word order can stay the same as in the statement. In writing, Spanish puts an upside-down question mark at the start: ¿…?
You can also put the subject after the verb, but you don't need to: and both work.
- Hablas español.You speak Spanish.
- ¿Hablas español?Do you speak Spanish?
- ¿Está abierto el museo?Is the museum open?
Question words
Question words always have a written accent when they ask a question, and they usually come first, followed by the verb. With a preposition, the preposition comes first: (Where are you from?).
| Spanish | English | Example |
|---|---|---|
| what? | ||
| / | who? | |
| where? | ||
| where to? | ||
| when? | ||
| how? | ||
| / / / | how much? how many? | |
| / | which? what? | |
| why? |
Saying “not”
Put directly before the verb. If there is a pronoun like or before the verb, goes before that. The answer “no” is also , so “No, I don't” is often …
- No hablo alemán.I don't speak German.
- No me gusta el té.I don't like tea.
- ¿Tienes coche? No, no tengo.Do you have a car? No, I don't.
Nunca, nada, nadie
Spanish is happy with double negatives. When (never), (nothing), (nobody) or (neither) come after the verb, you still need before the verb. If they come before the verb, you drop .
- No quiero nada.I don't want anything.
- No hay nadie en casa.There's nobody at home.
- Nunca como carne.I never eat meat.
- No como carne nunca.I never eat meat.
- Yo tampoco.Me neither.