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 Sample Lesson
 Spanish for Hotel Industry
Asking Questions
Question Words
Sample Exercise
 
Forming Questions
Asking Questions

In this Sample Lesson you will learn to ask questions. It is similar to English with a slight change of word order for some cases. Let us look at a few examples.

  1. ¿Habla Elena inglés? - Does Elena speak English?
  2. ¿Limpió Jorge el baño? - Did Jorge clean the bathroom?
  3. ¿Cuándo habla Jorge español? - When does Jorge speak Spanish?
Sentence (1) in English is a basic question. You have the person who does the action (Elena) followed by the action word (speak). The Spanish version has the action word first (habla) followed by the person who acts (Elena). Compare sentences (1) and (2). Again in sentence (2) in Spanish, you have the action word first then the person who acts. However notice that both sentences (1) and (2) in English have words at the beginning that do not seem to appear in Spanish (does, did). These words simply tell you when the action happens, now or in the past. You will never have to translate these kinds of words into Spanish because this information is included in the action words (habla, limpió). For these types of questions, you simply have to remember to reverse the person-action (Elena speaks) to action-person (habla Elena). The end of the English sentence (inglés, español) remains at the end for Spanish.

Sentence (3) is slightly different. You notice that there is a question word at the beginning (cuándo - when). Along with inserting the question word you also reverse the person-action (Jorge speaks) to action-person (habla Jorge) as before. The 3 sentences above illustrate the basic structure for forming questions.

Now you are ready to form your own. The Table below includes basic question words. By putting these at the beginning, and remembering the order person who acts + action word, you can form simple questions. Review the Table, then complete the Sample Quiz.

Table - Question Words

(Click on green symbol to listen)
English Spanish
QUESTION WORDS
  1. who?
  2. what?
  3. where?
  4. when?
  5. why?
  6. how?
  7. what time is it?
ACTION WORDS / PHRASES

  1. you are doing
  2. it is, is
  3. she works
  4. you arrive late
  5. they are coming
  6. he is going
  7. it's 3:00
QUESTION WORDS
  1. ¿quién - quiénes?
  2. ¿qué?
  3. ¿dónde?
  4. ¿cuándo?
  5. ¿por qué?
  6. ¿cómo?
  7. ¿Qué hora es?
ACTION WORDS / PHRASES
  1. haces
  2. es
  3. trabaja
  4. llegas tarde
  5. vienen
  6. va
  7. son las tres

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Sample Exercise

Instructions

Study the Table above before completing the following exercise. In the blank, write the letter of the Spanish word on the right that matches the English on the left.

English Spanish
  1. _______What time is it?
  2. _______When are they coming?
  3. _______Who is it?
  4. _______How does she work?
  5. _______What are you doing?
  6. _______When does he arrive?
  7. _______Why do you arrive late?
  8. _______Where does she work?
  9. _______When does he go?
  10. _______Why do you arrive late?
  1. ¿Qué es esto?
  2. ¿Por qué llegas tarde?
  3. ¿Cuándo va?
  4. ¿Qué hora es?
  5. ¿Dónde trabaja?
  6. ¿Quién trabaja?
  7. ¿Por qué llegas tarde?
  8. ¿Qué haces?
  9. ¿Cómo trabaja?
  10. ¿Quién es?
  11. ¿Quién va?
  12. ¿Cuándo vienen?
  13. ¿Cuándo llega?

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