01 · Turn any statement into a question
¿Hablas español?
Do you speak Spanish?
Same words as "you speak Spanish," just rising intonation and a question mark. Spanish doesn't need a "do" — this is the whole trick.
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Interrogator
Ask for directions, prices, and plans — and keep a real conversation moving, out loud.
Spanish never uses a 'do' helper — take the statement and raise your voice at the end: ¿hablas español? is do you speak Spanish? For details, start straight with an accented question word plus the verb: ¿dónde vives?, ¿cuándo llega el bus?, ¿cuánto cuesta? Before ser + a noun, use cuál, not qué: ¿cuál es tu nombre? And to confirm something you already suspect, tag the end: hablas español, ¿verdad?
Below: the question words one by one, what changes between Mexico and Argentina, the slips that give beginners away — and a way to practise asking them in a live exchange, no drills, no worksheets.
The warm-up pack
The questions that actually keep a conversation moving — asked out loud, never fill-in-the-blank.
01 · Turn any statement into a question
¿Hablas español?
Do you speak Spanish?
Same words as "you speak Spanish," just rising intonation and a question mark. Spanish doesn't need a "do" — this is the whole trick.
02 · Confirming what you think you know
Vives en Lima, ¿no?
You live in Lima, don't you?
Tack ¿no? or ¿verdad? onto a plain statement to check a fact — much easier than building a whole new question.
03 · Asking what
¿Qué comes hoy?
What are you eating today?
Qué goes straight before the verb — no extra "do" word gets inserted anywhere.
04 · Asking who
¿Quién es él?
Who is he?
Quién always carries its accent, in writing and in the way you stress it out loud.
05 · Asking where
¿Dónde vives?
Where do you live?
Three words, and it's the question you'll use to start half your conversations with someone new.
06 · Asking when
¿Cuándo llega el bus?
When does the bus arrive?
Cuándo up front, verb right after — the same shape as dónde, just swapped for time instead of place.
07 · Asking how
¿Cómo estás?
How are you?
The question you already know — cómo works the same way for "how do you say," anything that needs a manner.
08 · Asking how much
¿Cuánto cuesta?
How much does it cost?
Cuánto for uncountable things; it grows an -s for countable ones — ¿cuántos hermanos tienes?
09 · The one qué can't do
¿Cuál es tu nombre?
What is your name?
This is where English's "what" splits in two — cuál, not qué, goes before es + a noun. Asking ¿qué es tu nombre? is the giveaway mistake.
10 · Asking why
¿Por qué estudias español?
Why do you study Spanish?
Two words, an accent on qué — and the answer that comes back is porque, one word, no accent.
11 · Everything you've learned, in one line
¿Cuánto cuesta un café en tu país?
How much does a coffee cost in your country?
Question word, verb, and a full detail tacked on — the length real conversation actually needs, not a one-word drill.
FLUENT
Finally, someone to talk to in Spanish.
Ten-minute spoken lessons. A teacher who answers back — and gently fixes what you got wrong.
First 10 lessons freeandbefluent.com/spanish/interrogatorRegional Spanish
Textbooks teach one word. Locals use several — pick your region's and stay consistent.
| English | Mexico | Argentina |
|---|---|---|
| do you speak Spanish? | ¿hablas español? | ¿hablás español? |
| how much does it cost? | ¿cuánto cuesta? | ¿cuánto sale? |
| what are you doing? | ¿qué haces? | ¿qué hacés? |
| …right? (tag question) | ¿no? / ¿va? | ¿viste? |
Watch out
The part no drill site can do
Carla
Your grammar teacher for this pack
There are no worksheets in the Interrogator lessons and nothing to transform on paper — you talk, and Carla makes you the one doing the asking. She has you fire three real questions at her with qué, dónde and cuándo, then runs a market beat where you need ¿cuánto cuesta? and ¿cuál te gusta más? about things you actually buy. When she asks ¿por qué estudias español?, you answer — and ask her right back. Out loud, until asking stops feeling like an exam.
Blank mid-sentence and nothing bad happens — she waits. That's the practice, without unnecessary judgement.
Finish the 8 lessons and Interrogator is yours — earned, not given.
First 10 lessons free · 10-minute spoken lessons · your AI coaching team remembers you
Quick answers
You don't translate 'do' at all. Say the statement with rising intonation: ¿hablas español?, ¿vives aquí?, ¿tienes hambre? The rise in your voice is the question.
qué (what), quién (who), dónde (where), cuándo (when), cómo (how), cuánto (how much), cuál (which), por qué (why) — and every one carries a written accent when it's a question.
Use cuál before ser + a noun: ¿cuál es tu nombre?, ¿cuál es tu color favorito? Asking these with qué is the single most common beginner slip.
¿cuánto cuesta? — though in Argentina and Uruguay you'll hear ¿cuánto sale? For counting, use cuántos: ¿cuántos hermanos tienes?
It's a tag — right?: hablas español, ¿verdad?, vives en Lima, ¿no? Locals vary it by region: ¿va? in Mexico, ¿viste? in Argentina, ¿oíste? in the Caribbean.