ABSTRACT
In direct questions the interrogative is placed at the beginning of the sentence. (☞ See Unit 22 for more on the simple sentence.)
¿Adónde va ese tren? (Where’s that train going to?) ¿Por qué me preguntaste el nombre de mi jefe? (Why did you ask me my boss’s name?)
In indirect questions the interrogative stands at the head of the subordinate clause. (☞ See Unit 24 to find out more about subordinate clauses; see Unit 25 for more on indirect speech.)
No se sabe quién fue Juanito el Destripador. (Nobody knows who Jack the Ripper was.) No recuerda dónde escondió el testamento. (He doesn’t remember where he hid his will.)
As a pronoun, ¿qué? (‘what?’) refers to nouns as yet unidentified, unspecified or unknown. It has the sense ‘what thing?’, ‘what object?’ or ‘what idea?’ (but never ‘what person?’ in the sense of ‘who?’ – that is always ¿quién?).
