Unit 2: Basics
2.7 Interrogation
Spanish usually inverts the order of the subject and verb when forming a question. (In addition, as you have seen, a question is both preceded and followed by a question mark.)
In colloquial speech -and, on occasion, in writing- subject and verb are not always inverted, though punctuation will always indicate that the sentence is indeed a question.
| ¿Están los muchachos en la ciudad? | Are the boys and girls in town (in the city)? |
| ¿Cecilia está allí? | Is Cecilia there? |
¡Ojo! (This literally means “eye,” but used here means “watch out” or “pay close attention” and is used like the Italian Nota bene [N.B. or “note well”].) In many cases, when someone is asking whether someone is “here,” “there,” or “at home,” the words aquí, allí and en casa are understood and not expressed:
| ¿Está Mamá? | Is Mom here (there, at home)? |
| ¿Están los señores Alférez? | Are Mr. and Mrs. Alférez home (here, there)? |
