When to accent "cuando"?

[irahandler]

Wondering what 'cuando' is accented here?

I already know when that movie came out, (it) was in 2003
Yo ya sé cuándo salió esa película, fue en 2003

This seems to be a statement about when the movie came out, not a question per se. Although I can imagine that it probably was in reply to such a question as "When did that movie come out". Still, why is it accented?

[Fluenz User Support]

Hi @irahandler
Thank you for your question!

The word "cuándo" is accented here because it is being used as an interrogative or exclamatory term, even though it appears in an indirect context rather than a direct question.

In your example:
"Yo ya sé cuándo salió esa película, fue en 2003."

The phrase "cuándo salió esa película" indirectly refers to a specific point in time when the movie came out. Even though the sentence is a statement, the clause retains its interrogative nature because it refers to the implied question of "when" the movie came out.

In Spanish, whenever "cuándo" is used to convey a question—whether direct or indirect—it requires an accent. If it were a non-interrogative usage (e.g., "cuando" meaning "when" in a time conjunction), it would not carry the accent.

For example:

Direct question: ¿Cuándo salió esa película?
Indirect question: Yo ya sé cuándo salió esa película.
Time conjunction (no accent): Cuando salió esa película, nadie fue a verla.
I hope this clears up the confusion! Feel free to ask if you have more questions.