First: Determine if it's a yes/no question or a question-word question
¿Descansas mucho los fines de semana?
¿Dónde comes al mediodía?
¿Te gusta bailar?
¿Con quién estudias para los exámenes?
¿Tus amigos van a la playa los sábados?
yes/no
yes/no
yes/no
Dónde--question word
Quién--question word
How to answer questions in Spanish with complete sentences
Click the arrow at bottom right to reveal the hidden elements and to move through the slides.
Next: If it is a yes/no question, decide if you're answering "yes" or "no".
Write "sí" or "no, no" to start.
¿Descansas mucho los fines de semana?
Sí,
¿Te gusta bailar?
No, no
¿Tus amigos van a la playa los sábados?
Sí,
Next: focus on the verb phrase.
- If there is a "te" before the conjugated verb in the question, write "me" in the answer. (If there is not, don't put one there.)
- If there is a tú-form verb in the question, write the yo-form of that same verb in the answer. (Yep, that's what's here.)
¿Descansas mucho los fines de semana?
Sí, (you already wrote this)
"descansas" is
a tú-form
Sí, descanso
Write the yo-form (of course, in the present tense--it's the only tense we know)
Now copy the predicate exactly as it appears in the question:
Sí, descanso mucho los fines de semana.
THAT'S IT! YOU ARE DONE!
Next: focus on the verb phrase.
- If there is a "te" in the question before the verb, write "me" in the answer. (If there is not, don't put one there.)
- If there is a 3rd-person verb in the question, copy that same verb form into your answer. (Yep, this is here.)
¿Te gusta bailar?
"gusta" is present-tense 3rd-person form
No, no me gusta
Copy this 3rd-person form
Now copy the remaining sentence element exactly as it appears in the question:
No, no me gusta bailar.
Turn the "te" into "me"
THAT'S IT! YOU ARE DONE! SO EASY!
No, no me
Next: focus on the verb phrase.
- If there is a "te" before the verb in the question, write "me" in the answer. (Nope, this isn't present. Don't add "me".)
- If there is a 3rd-person verb in the question, copy that same verb form into your answer. (Yep, have one of those.)
¿Tus amigos van a la playa los sábados?
Sí, (you already wrote this)
"van" is a 3rd-person form
Sí, van
Copy the 3rd-person form
Now copy the predicate exactly as it appears in the question:
Sí, van a la playa los sábados.
THAT'S IT! YOU ARE DONE!
If it is a question-word question, first:
Focus on the verb phrase
- If there is a "te" before the verb in the question, write "me" in the answer. (If there is not, don't put one there.)
- If there is a tú-form verb in the question, write the yo-form of that same verb in the answer.
¿Dónde comes al mediodía?
Como
The verb is the tú-form of "comer"
We write the yo-form of that same verb to start.
Wait, though--you are not done!
You still need to supply the information question seeks.
The question word here is "dónde", which means "where".
This means your answer must include "en" plus a PLACE.
Como en McDonald's.
Como en la cafetería.
Como en casa.
Now there is only 1 thing left to do: copy the adverbial of time from the question into your answer. Put it at the very end of your sentence:
Como en McDonald's al mediodía.
Como en la cafetería al mediodía.
Como en casa al mediodía.
THAT'S IT! YOU ARE DONE!
If it is a question-word question, first:
Focus on the verb phrase
- If there is a tú-form verb in the question, write the yo-form of that same verb in the answer.
- After that, pick up the elements that follow the conjugated verb.
¿Con quién estudias para los exámenes?
"Estudias" is a tú-form
Write the yo-form
Estudio
Copy rest of question elements that are to the right of the verb.
Estudio para los exámenes
Wait, though--you are not done!
You still need to supply the information the question seeks.
The question word here is "quién", which means "who".
This means your answer must include "con" (you keep the preposition from the question) plus ONE OR MORE PEOPLE.
Estudio para los exámenes con mi amiga Caitlyn.
Estudio para los exámenes con mi hermano.
Estudio para los exámenes con los compañeros de clase.
THAT'S IT! YOU ARE DONE!
Answering questions with complete sentences
By kjjones
Answering questions with complete sentences
- 179
