How to ask "who" in Spanish

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Learn how to ask "who" in Spanish

To ask who in Spanish we use the interrogative pronouns "quién" and "quiénes".

Quién

We use quién to ask who in singular, for example:

¿Quién es ese chico?Who is that boy?

¿Quién está llamando a la puerta?Who is knocking on the door?

¿Quién gana más dinero, tú o tu hermano?Who earns more money, you or your brother?

 

Quiénes 

We use the form quiénes to ask who in plural, i.e. referring to more than one person. For example:

¿Quiénes son los padres de Ana?Who are Ana's parents?

¿Quiénes son esos hombres?Who are those men?

It's important to note that when we ask who in plural, the verb needs to be conjugated in plural too:

¿Quién es ese chico?
Who's that boy?

¿Quiénes son esos chicos?
Who are those boys?

Something to bear in mind is that in English you might use who and the verb in singular while in Spanish the same question may use quiénes with a verb in plural if the speaker is referring to a who directed to more than one person. 

For example, if you are in a party and want to ask in general who wants cake, you'd normally formulate the question in singular, like in English:

Quién quiere tarta de chocolate?Who wants chocolate cake?

But this could also be formulated in plural in Spanish if we already know that there are several people who do want cake; so we'd say:

¿Quiénes quieren tarta de chocolate?Who wants chocolate cake?

However, this plural question still uses the singular in English.

Remember: the interrogatives quién and quiénes have a written accent: ¿quién...?, ¿quiénes...?

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Examples and resources

¿Quiénes son esos hombres?Who are those men?
¿Quién es ese chico?Who is that boy?
¿Quién está llamando a la puerta?Who is knocking on the door?
¿Quién gana más dinero, tú o tu hermano?Who earns more money, you or your brother?
¿Quiénes son los padres de Ana?Who are Ana's parents?
¿Quiénes llegaron primero?Who arrived first? 
Quién quiere tarta de chocolate?Who wants chocolate cake?
¿Quiénes quieren tarta de chocolate?Who wants chocolate cake?
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