Questions and negatives: less machinery than English
CEFR A1
What you will learn
- Form a direct yes/no question without an auxiliary equivalent to English do.
- Choose and accent an A1 question word for person, thing, place, manner, quantity or reason.
- Place no and negative words correctly before or after the conjugated verb.
The idea
A yes/no question can keep the same words as a statement. Speech uses question intonation; writing frames the whole question with “¿” and “?”. Spanish does not insert an auxiliary equivalent to English do. An information question begins with a stressed question expression such as “qué”, “quién” or “dónde”. These forms carry a written accent when they ask or exclaim, including in indirect questions.
The basic negative places “no” immediately before the conjugated verb: “No trabajo aquí”. If “nada”, “nadie” or “nunca” comes after the verb, Spanish keeps “no”: “No veo a nadie”. This is standard negative concord, not the meaning of a positive English double negative.
If the negative word itself comes before the verb, it supplies the negative force and “no” disappears: “Nadie trabaja hoy”, “Nunca bebo café”. The position determines the pattern.
A1 question-word reference
| question expression | asks for | agreement |
|---|---|---|
| qué | a thing, class or action | invariable |
| quién | a person | active A1 form |
| cuánto / cuánta / cuántos / cuántas | quantity | gender and number before a noun |
| dónde | place | invariable |
| cómo | manner or basic state | invariable |
| de dónde | origin | invariable |
| por qué | reason | two words; qué is accented |
How it sounds
- ¿Por qué está cerrada la tienda? Nadie trabaja el domingo.A reason question begins with the two-word expression “por qué”. The question has opening and closing question marks. In the answer, “nadie” comes before the verb, so no additional “no” is used.
Your turn
Two or three, to check that the bit above landed.
Ask for the location of the key in the scene: ¿___ está la llave?
Dónde — The missing information is a place, so the interrogative is dónde with a written accent.
No people appear in the scene. Complete both sentences: “No hay ___.” / “___ aparece en la escena.”
nadie / Nadie — After the verb, nadie combines with no: “No hay nadie”. Before the verb, nadie supplies the negative force by itself.
Which written question correctly asks for the time indicated by the clock?
¿Qué hora es? — A direct question needs both question marks, and interrogative qué carries an accent.
When it doesn't hold
What breaks the rule, said out loud. Hiding it is what makes you feel cheated in the exam.
What your own language pushes you to say
Wrong ¿Haces tú vivir aquí? Tengo nada.
Right ¿Vives aquí? No tengo nada.
The Spanish verb carries the person ending, and a postverbal negative word normally appears with no before the verb.
Once it makes sense
Practise this: “No tengo nada”: two negatives are rightPractise this: You do not say “yo” every timeThe present tense: three endings and you can talkOne English “to be”, three Spanish choicesMe gusta: the sentence turns round