Language/Galician/Grammar/Questions

Galician Grammar - Questions

Hi Galician learners! 😊
In this lesson, we will learn how to ask questions in Galician. Galician questions can be a bit tricky, but with practice, you'll master them in no time!

With the completion of this lesson, consider investigating these related pages: Say Hello and Greetings in Galician, Adjectives & Past Participle in Galician.

Word Order

In Galician, the word order in a question is the same as in a statement. However, to indicate that it is a question, we use intonation and question particles. Let's see some examples:

Galician	Pronunciation	English
Tes un ordenador.	/tɛs un oɾdɛnadoɾ/	You have a computer.
Tes un ordenador?	/tɛs un oɾdɛnadoɾ̝̊/	Do you have a computer?
Vas ao cine.	/bas ao tʃinɛ/	You go to the cinema.
Vas ao cine?	/bas ao tʃinɛ̝̊/	Do you go to the cinema?

As you can see, to ask a question, we simply add a question mark at the end of the sentence, and vary the intonation.

Question Particles

In addition to intonation, Galician has some question particles that can be added to the sentence to indicate a question. The most common ones are:

• Non: This particle is placed at the beginning of the sentence to indicate a yes/no question. The tone of the question is usually marked by the context of the conversation.

• Qué: This particle is used to form open questions, that is, questions that require a specific answer. For example:

Galician	Pronunciation	English
Que fas?	/kɛ ˈfas/	What are you doing?
Que queres?	/kɛ ˈkeɾes/	What do you want?
Cando chegas?	/ˈkando ˈtʃeɣas/	When do you arrive?

Notice that "qué" is followed by the verb, and then the subject.

• Como: This particle is used to ask about methods or ways, like "how" or "in what way".

Galician	Pronunciation	English
Como che chamas?	/ˈkomo ˈtʃe ˈtʃamas/	What's your name?
Como se di?	/ˈkomo se ði/	How do we say it?

• Canto: This particle is used to ask about quantity.

Galician	Pronunciation	English
Canto custa?	/ˈkanto ˈkusta/	How much does it cost?

• Cal: This particle is used to ask about choices, like "which".

Galician	Pronunciation	English
Cal é o teu libro preferido?	/kal ɛ o tew ˈliβɾo pɾefeˈɾido/	What's your favorite book?

Dialogue

Here is an example dialogue to practice asking questions in Galician:

• Person 1: Bo día! Como che chamas? (/ˈbɔ ði.a ˈkomo tʃe ˈtʃamas/ - Good morning! What's your name?)
• Person 2: Ola! Chámome Ana. E ti? (/ˈɔla . ˈtʃamome ˈana . e ti/ - Hi! My name is Ana. And you?)
• Person 1: Chámome Juan. De onde es? (/ˈtʃamome ˈxwan . ðe ˈondɛ es/ - My name is Juan. Where are you from?)
• Person 2: Son de Pontevedra. E ti? (/son de pɔn.tɛˈβɛð.ɾa - And you?)
• Person 1: Son de Lugo. Canto tempo levas estudando galego? (/son de ˈluɣo . ˈkanto ˈtɛmpo ˈleβas stuðanˈdo ɡaˈleɣo/ - I'm from Lugo. How long have you been studying Galician?)
• Person 2: Levo estudando dende hai un ano. E ti? (/ˈleβo estuˈðando ˈdɛn.de hai un ˈano. e ti/ - I've been studying for a year. And you?)
• Person 1: Eu tamén levo un ano. Tes algunha pregunta? (/ew ˈta.mɛn ˈleβo un ˈano. Tes aɣunˈa pɾe.ɣunta/ - I've also been studying for a year. Do you have any questions?)
• Person 2: Si, que se significa "fatal"? (/si, ke se siɡni'fika faˈtal/ - Yes, what does "fatal" mean?)
• Person 1: "Fatal" quere dicir "malo" ou "terrible". (/faˈtal ˈkeɾe ðiˈθir ˈmalo au teɾˈri.βle/ - "Fatal" means "bad" or "terrible")

Conclusion

In this lesson, we have learned how to ask questions in Galician using intonation and question particles. Remember to use the appropriate particle depending on the type of question you want to ask, and practice your Galician with native speakers on Polyglot Club. Don't be afraid to ask questions, and keep practicing!

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➡ If you have any questions, please ask them in the comments section below.
➡ Feel free to edit this wiki page if you think it can be improved. 😎

Sources

• Galician language - Wikipedia
• Galician Grammar

Now that you've completed this lesson, don't stop learning! Check out these related topics: Gender & Give your Opinion.

Other Lessons

• Plurals
• How to Use Have
• Future Tense
• Conditional Mood
• Possessive Case in Galician
• Negation
• Prepositions
• Adverbs in Galician
• Pronouns