Kilo Lingo
Latin grammar Part of Chapter 2

CEFR A1-A2

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Test yourself (20 questions)

Latin Question Words: quis, quid, ubi, cur

By Michael McGettrickUpdated 11 October 2026

Every Latin question is built from a small, fixed team of words. asks who, asks what, and the five words for where, why, when, how and how many never change their form at all.

LatinExampleEnglish
?Who is coming?
?What are you saying?
?Where is the king?
?Why are you not coming?
?When is the brother coming?
?How are you doing this?
?How many brothers do you have?

Quick check

Now use it: three quick questions on the chart above. The full practice is further down.

Pick the right one

0/3

Each answer is given after the dash. Pick the question word that the answer is answering.

  1. venit? - Pater venit.

  2. est rex? - In urbe est.

  3. non venis? - Quia aquam non habeo.

quis and quid: who and what

asks about a person, about a thing:

a persona thingnominativeaccusativegenitivedativeablativemasculinefeminineneuterWhat do the colours mean?
  • ? - Who is coming?
  • ? - What are you saying?
  • ? - What is it?

They are one word in two forms, and outside the nominative and accusative they share every case. The neuter ends in -d, like and .

CasePersonThing
Nom
Acc
Gen
Abl

Each case does its usual job:

  • ? - Whom do you see?
  • ? - Whose son are you?
  • ? - Whom are you answering?
  • ? - Who did you come with?

is glued on after, as in , with me. The plural, , , , is the same as the relative pronoun's: ? - Who are they? It is set out on the pronouns page.

The indeclinables: ubi, cur, quando, quomodo, quot

These never change form, whatever the sentence does around them:

LatinExampleEnglish
, where ?Where is father?
, why ?Why do you say this?
, when ?When are you coming?
, how ?How are you?
, how many ?How old are you?
Four panels: a smiling man with a moustache (who); a folded map with a red pin and a dotted path (where); an alarm clock (when); a pile of gold coins and two stacks (how much).
  1. ?
  2. ?
  3. ?
  4. ?

Who, where, when, how many: quis declines (quem, cuius, cui), while ubi, quando and quot never change.

is two words grown together, by what way:

quo modo, by what way, becomes quomodo, how

stays the same while its noun declines:

  • ? - How many books are there?
  • ? - How many books do you have?

? is literally born how many years?

A party under bunting and balloons: the birthday boy, with short hair and a bow tie, cheers behind a pink cake with five candles, flanked by two girls in party hats (one with pigtails and a bow, one with long hair), with a wrapped present on the table.
  1. !
  3. ?

The girl asks, the birthday boy answers: five candles, five years. Natus agrees with him; a girl would answer quinque annos nata sum.

A few more complete the set:

LatinExampleEnglish
, where from ?Where are you coming from?
, where to vadis?Where are you going?
, how ?How long is the road?
, what sort ?What sort of man is he?
, how big ?How big is the city?

is where for a place; movement towards needs , and away needs . and decline like adjectives and agree with their noun.

qui, quae, quod: which, with a noun

Attached to a noun, the question word becomes , , , and agrees with the noun's gender:

LatinEnglish
?Which king is coming?
?Which city is it?
?Which word did he say?

is wrong for the same reason as : is feminine. More on that in adjectives and agreement.

The same shape as the relative

, , is also the relative pronoun, who or which. Position tells you which you are reading:

LatinJobEnglish
?questionWhich king is coming?
relativethe king who is coming

The question word heads a question; the relative follows its noun.

After si, nisi, ne, num: anyone

After these four little words, stops asking and means anyone, and means anything:

  • , . - If anyone comes, tell me.
  • , . - If you have anything, give it to me.

Yes-no questions

Latin has no question word for a plain yes-no question. It adds - to the first word, or opens with or : Venisne? - Are you coming? Those three have their own page.

Questions inside sentences

A reported question keeps its question word, but its verb goes into the subjunctive:

  • ? - What are you saying?
  • . - I do not know what you are saying.

More in indirect questions.

Mistakes English speakers make

WrongRightWhy
? ?whom is the object: accusative
? (who) ?a person is
? ? is feminine
= if whoif anyoneafter , means anyone

What to do next

  1. Learn the pair first: for people, for things.
  2. Run the drill below: the guard at the gate, then the sorting.
  3. Then make yes-no questions with -ne, nonne and num.

Practise: test yourself

Pick the right one

0/6

Each answer is given after the dash. Pick the question word that the answer is answering.

  1. venit? - Pater venit.

  2. est rex? - In urbe est.

  3. non venis? - Quia aquam non habeo.

  4. venit frater? - Nunc venit.

  5. hoc facis? - Sic.

  6. annos natus es? - Tres.

Complete the story

0/4

A guard questions a traveller. Choose the question word.

At the city gate

es? Filius Marci sum. est pater tuus? In urbe est. venit? Nunc venit. habes? Aquam habeo.

Gap 1 of 4

Sort into groups

0/7

Which king? Which city? Which form of qui goes with each noun?

Tap a word, then the group it belongs in.

Spot the mistake

0/3

Tap the wrong question word.

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Practice worksheets and infographics

Practice worksheets with answer keys built in, plus infographic and listicle formats. Open any one to view, print or save.

Infographics

  1. Key points infographic
  2. Table 1
  3. quis and quid: who and what
  4. The indeclinables: ubi, cur, quando, quomodo, quot
  5. The indeclinables: ubi, cur, quando, quomodo, quot
  6. qui, quae, quod: which, with a noun
  7. The same shape as the relative
  8. Mistakes English speakers make

Other formats

  1. Listicle

More grammar on this course

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between and in Latin?
Person against thing. asks about a person: , who is coming. asks about a thing: , what do you have. They are two forms of one word and share their other cases: for whom, for whose, for to whom. The neuter ends in -d, like , and .
What is the difference between and in questions?
stands alone and leans on a noun. is who is coming; is which king is coming. The adjectival form agrees with its noun in gender, number and case, so it is for which city and for which war.
How do you say where, why and when in Latin?
, and , and none of them ever changes its form. , where is the king. , why are you not coming. , when is he coming. Add , how, and , how many, and you have the indeclinable question words. never changes even when the noun beside it does.
Is in a question the same word as the relative ?
Nearly the same forms, opposite jobs. The interrogative sits at the head of a question and asks: , which king is coming. The relative follows a noun already mentioned and pins a clause to it: , the king who is coming. Position tells you which you are reading.
What does mean after or ?
Anyone, not who. After , , and , the interrogative gives up asking: means if anyone comes. The form on the page is identical to the question word, so check the little word in front before reading any as a question.