In Spanish, there are two main ways to ask questions:

1. Inversion
2. Changing your voice at the end of the sentence.

Inversion means switching the usual order of the subject (the person doing something) and the verb (the action). Let’s break it down with some grammar tips.

Present Tense Regular Verbs

• For -AR verbs (like "hablar" which means "to speak"):

  • Yo hablo (I speak)
  • Tú hablas (You speak)
  • Él/Ella habla (He/She speaks)

• For -ER verbs (like "comer" which means "to eat"):

  • Yo como (I eat)
  • Tú comes (You eat)
  • Él/Ella come (He/She eats)

• For -IR verbs (like "vivir" which means "to live"):

  • Yo vivo (I live)
  • Tú vives (You live)
  • Él/Ella vive (He/She lives)

Common Irregular Verbs

Here are some common verbs that change in different ways:

• Ser (to be):

  • ¿Eres tú estudiante? (Are you a student?)

• Estar (to be):

  • ¿Está él en casa? (Is he at home?)

• Tener (to have):

  • ¿Tienes tú un perro? (Do you have a dog?)

• Ir (to go):

  • ¿Vas tú al cine? (Are you going to the movies?)

Using Articles

Articles are little words that tell us if something is specific or just any kind.

• Definite articles (like "el" and "la"):

  • El libro (the book)
  • La casa (the house)

• Indefinite articles (like "un" and "una"):

  • Un gato (a cat)
  • Una silla (a chair)

Making Questions

To turn a statement into a question with inversion, swap the order of the subject and the verb.

• Statement: Tú hablas español.
• Question: ¿Hablas tú español?

Sometimes, you can leave out the subject because the verb tells you who it is. For example:

• ¿Hablo yo español? (Do I speak Spanish?)
• ¿Comen ellos pizza? (Do they eat pizza?)

Using Adjectives

Don’t forget that adjectives (words that describe) should match the nouns they describe. This means they need to agree in gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural).

• Masculine singular: El chico alto (the tall boy)
• Feminine singular: La chica alta (the tall girl)
• Masculine plural: Los chicos altos (the tall boys)
• Feminine plural: Las chicas altas (the tall girls)

Practice Time

Let’s practice making questions using inversion. Change these statements into questions:

1. Ellos estudian en la biblioteca. (Do they study in the library?)
2. Tú tienes un coche. (Do you have a car?)
3. María va al parque. (Is María going to the park?)

Remember, in Spanish, just raising your voice at the end of a sentence can turn it into a question. But using inversion is very important for making clear and correct questions. Happy learning!