Teaching students early on what the Spanish question words mean and how to use them makes life so much easier for both you and them.
This post includes tons of great ideas for Spanish question words activities, lesson plans, and resources so that your students will be able to ask and understand questions easily and confidently.
Be sure to grab your free Important Questions Signs, 100 Questions Sheet, and Interactive Notebook Flashcards, too!
Spanish Question Words
¿Qué? – What
¿A qué hora? – At what time
¿Cuándo? – When
¿Dónde? – Where
¿Adónde? – Where to
¿De dónde? – Where from
¿Por qué? – Why
¿Quién? ¿Quiénes? – Who
¿Cuánto? ¿Cuánta? ¿Cuántos? ¿Cuántas? – How much/many
¿Cómo? – How
¿Cuál? ¿Cuáles? – Which one
Why Is There an Inverted Question Mark in Spanish?
The inverted question mark is used at the beginning of each interrogative sentence to make reading a question out loud easier.
When you see the question mark at the beginning of a sentence, it allows you to use the correct intonation because you already know it is a question.
Spanish Question Words Activities
- Post helpful Spanish important questions signs around your classroom for easy reference. ¿Cómo se dice . . . en español? ¿Me permite ir al baño? Grab these free signs in my Free Resource Library. Sign up below.
- Remind students that each question word has an accent on the a, e, or o. These are the strong vowels in Spanish so they have accents more often than i or u.
- Instead of teaching all the question words at once, incorporate a few at a time into your lessons. When I’m teaching at the beginning of the year, I like to focus on helpful communication questions such as: ¿Cómo te llamas?
¿Quién es?
¿Dónde vives?
¿Cuántos años tienes?
¿De qué color es . . .?
¿Cuál libro prefieres el rojo o el azul? - Spend 10-15 minutes once a week and ask students rapid fire questions. Instead of having students raise their hands, pick them randomly so that they have to pay attention.Variation: Pair up students and they ask each other. Grab this free helpful list of a questions to ask in class in my Free Resource Library.
4. Post Spanish question word signs with authentic realia around the classroom. Students use these as a reference when they want to ask a question.
5. Every Monday, have students talk about their weekends for the first 15-20 minutes of class and have students ask follow-up questions. Yes, you can even do this in Spanish 1. Learn more in this blog post, Why I Love Mondays!.
8. Teach question words through trifold flashcards (story strips). Students tape this page in their notebooks and then fill in the blanks with the question words. Afterwards, they flip the page over and fill in more words in each sentence (sneaks in extra grammar). Finally, they write out each story strip in its entirety.
At the end, they will have written each question word 9 times in context so the words will be imprinted in their brains. Grab your free set of Spanish question word interactive notebook trifold flashcards in the Free Resource Library. Click the button above to join to get the password.
Helpful Spanish Question Words Resources
- Want a full Spanish question word unit with everything you need so students will master question words for once and for all? Check out this bundle!
2. We all know that teaching the difference between qué and cuál is super tricky. Check out this Manos arriba game that helps students learn the difference, as well as practice all the other question words.
3. Don’t want to spend time making a Spanish question words quiz? Check out this quiz to check for student mastery. Did I mention that it includes a Google Forms version so you don’t even have to grade it? Genius!
Hope all these ideas make teaching question words easier for you and your students. Do you have any great question words activities or games? If so, please share in the comments. Happy Teaching!
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