There are 2 main ways to form interrogative sentences:
- With interrogative pronouns
- With the suffix -chu
Interrogative pronouns
These are the interrogative pronouns in Quechua (in this list they are not yet in interrogative mode):
| Quechua | English |
| Ima | What |
| Imayna | How |
| Pi | Who |
| Hayk’a | How much / How many |
| Hayk’aq | When |
| Mayqen | Which |
| Imarayku | Why |
| Imanaqtin | Why |
Don’t worry because there are 2 words for ‘why’: imarayku and imanaqtin, you can use any of them, for the moment we will preferably use imarayku.
Interrogative pronouns, like the other Quechua words, are declinable, for example: “pita” would be “whom” or “to whom”, in addition “pi” has a special decline with the suffix -q/-pa (possessive), following the The logic we learned would be “piq”, but in its special case it is: ‘piqpa‘.
1. Interrogative sentences using the suffix -n/-mi
Interrogative pronouns would decline as follows:
| Quechua | English |
| ¿Iman? | What?, What is? |
| ¿Imatan? | What? / To what? |
| ¿Imaynan? | How? |
| ¿Pin? | Who? |
| ¿Pitan? | Whom? |
| ¿Hayk’an? | How much? / How many? |
| ¿Hayk’aqmi? | When? |
| ¿Mayqenmi? | Which? |
| ¿Imaraykun? | Why? |
| ¿Imanaqtinmi? | Why? |
Are Iman and Imatan the same? No, but many times both can be translated as “what?”, Think of this example: “¿Imatan ruwashanki?” It means: “What are you doing?“, it would be very rare to say: “To what are they doing?“, that is why they often translate in the same way. Let’s see some examples.
New vocabulary:
- Suti: name
- Aswan: more, most
- Aswan allin: better, best (more good, most good)
- Llakikuy: to worry, to sadden
- Wata: year
- Waqay: to weep, to wail, to shed tears, to cry
| Quechua | English |
| ¿Iman situyki? | What is your name? |
| ¿Iman aswan allin? | What is the best? |
| ¿Imatan paykuna ruwasharanku? | What were they doing? |
| ¿Imaynan rimasaq? | How will [I] speak? |
| ¿Imaynatan kayta qelqaranki? | How did [you] write this? |
| ¿Pin kayta ruwaran? | Who did this? |
| ¿Pitan Alberto munakun? | Who does Alberto love? |
| ¿Piqpan kay wasi? | Whose is this house? |
| ¿Hayk’an watayki? | How old are you? |
| ¿Hayk’aqmi hamunki? | When are you coming? |
| ¿Mayqenmi wasiyki? | Which one is your house? |
| ¿Imaraykun waqashanki? | Why are you weeping? |
| ¿Imanaqtinmi waqashanki? | Why are you weeping? |
With this you already have a basic knowledge about the use of the interrogative pronouns of Quechua.
2. Interrogative sentences with the suffix -chu
In general terms, these sentences have an affirmative (Ari [Yes, I do]) or negative (Manan [No, I don’t]) answer, the suffix -chu accompanies the element for which you are asking, the element to be emphasized, for example:
| ¿Qayna p’unchaychu taytayki wasita picharan? | Did your father sweep the house yesterday? |
| ¿Qayna p’unchay taytaykichu wasita picharan? | Did your father sweep the house yesterday? |
| ¿Qayna p’unchay taytayki wasitachu picharan? | Did your father sweep the house yesterday? |
| ¿Qayna p’unchay taytayki wasita picharanchu? | Did your father sweep the house yesterday? |
New vocabulary:
- Qayna p’unchay: yesterday
- Pichay: to sweep