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Home / Beginner / 2. Basic Sentences

2.10 Why and Where in Spanish

Why in Spanish - '¿Por quÉ?'

'Why' in Spanish is 'por qué', literally 'for what'. Let's look at a few examples:

¿Por qué quieres salir conmigo? – Why do you want to go out with me?
¿Por qué no comes más? – Why don't you eat more?
¿Por qué no te gusta? – Why don't you like it/him/her?
Me puedes decir ¿por qué? – Can you tell me why?
No entendemos por qué – We don't understand why
Pero ¿por qué? – But why?

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Note: It is important to keep in mind that 'por qué' (2 words and the second with an accent) means 'why', but 'porque' (single word, no accent) means 'because'. This is a common mistake, so here are a few examples:

No me gusta porque es asqueroso – I don't like it because it is disgusting
Voy al médico porque no me siento bien – I am going to the doctor because I don't feel well
No queremos estudiar porque es aburrido – We don't want to study because it is boring
La camisa apesta porque se cayó en la basura – The shirt stinks because it fell in the garbage

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Where in Spanish - '¿dÓnde?'

'Where' in Spanish is 'dónde'. Let's look at some examples:

¿Dónde está el pato? – Where is the duck?
¿Dónde podemos encontrar un buen restaurante italiano? – Where can we find a good italian restaurant?
¿De dónde es usted? – Where are you from?
¿Para dónde vas? – Where are you off to?
¿De dónde vienes? – Where do you come from?

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Note: If the word is spelled without the accent over the 'o' as in 'donde' it has a different meaning, here are some examples:

El carro está donde tu tio – The car at your uncle's
Nos quedamos donde la familia Sanchez – We are staying at the Sanchez's place
¿Por qué no comen ustedes donde la abuela? – Why don't you eat at grandma's?
¡Allí es donde vamos nosotros! – That's (lit. 'there is') where we are going!

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