ADVERBS: Forming questions in Spanish 1

All question adverbs need a written accent — Every Spanish interrogative word carries an accent mark to distinguish it from the same word in a statement: ¿dónde? (where?) vs donde (where, relative). This applies to: dónde, cuándo, cómo, cuánto, adónde, por qué. Forgetting the accent is a very common written error.

Dónde vs adónde — ¿Dónde? asks about a fixed location: ¿Dónde vives? ¿Adónde? asks about a destination (with a verb of motion): ¿Adónde vas? ¿Adónde viajaron? In informal speech ¿dónde? is increasingly used for both, but adónde is formally correct with movement verbs.

Por qué vs porque vs porqué — ¿Por qué? (two words + accent) = Why? Porque (one word, no accent) = Because. El porqué (one word + accent, with article) = the reason: No entiendo el porqué de su decisión. Getting these three right is a key sign of Spanish literacy.