INTERROGATIVE ADJETIVE, ADJETIVOS-INTERROGATIVOS

WHAT ARE INTERROGATIVE ADJECTIVES?

Are words used to ask questions about a noun. They modify the noun in the sentence and are followed by a noun. In English, the main interrogative adjectives are:

WHAT: What time is it? (¿Qué hora es?)
WHICH:Which color do you prefer? (¿Cuál color prefieres?)
WHOSE:Whose car is that? (¿De quién es ese auto?) 

Types of interrogative adjectives in English

In English grammar we find: What, Whose, Which, Where, Why, How and Who. All of them have an interrogative character.

 

What 

In Spanish it would answer to “Qué...” and we use it to ask for information about something. Let's see it with an example:

• What are you doing? -¿Qué estás haciendo?
  

 

Who

In this case, it is used to ask by whom and would respond to “Quién” in Spanish. Example:

• Who is our new teacher? -¿Quién es el nuevo profe?

 

Whose 

We use it to express possession. It would be relative to “whose” in Spanish. Example:

• Whose phone is this? -¿De quién este teléfono?

It is important to emphasize one thing:

“Whose” and the contraction of ‘Who is’= ‘Who's’ are pronounced exactly the same even though the meaning is totally different.

“That is why, depending on the level of English of each speaker, we may have problems when communicating if we do not understand the context in which the question is asked.”

 

Which 

This is probably the one that causes the most problems. We always use it to ask for something to be specified, but its translation into Spanish can be “qué” or “cuál” depending on the context. Example:

• Which is your favourite city to visit?  -¿Cuál es tu ciudad favorita para visitar?

 

Where 

It answers “where” and we use it to ask for information about a place:

• Where is the bathroom? -¿Dónde está el baño?

Why 

It is our “why” and we will use it whenever we want to get an explanation about something or someone. Example:

• Why are there only two plates? -¿Por qué solo hay dos platos?

 

How 

And we come to a slightly more particular case. How would be translated as “how” and we would use it to ask for information about the way or manner in which something has been done. Example:

    How do you know him? -How do you know him?

However, “how” can be combined with “many” and “much” to talk about “how many”:

• How long should I put a pizza in the oven? -¿Cuánto tiempo debería poner la pizza en el horno?
• How many times have you been to London? -¿Cuántas veces has ido a Londres?