sobre qué
/sobɾe ke/from spelling rules
The English phrase "about what" is translated into Spanish as sobre qué.
If you are using it as a standalone question, such as when asking "About what?", you must enclose it in both opening and closing question marks: ¿Sobre qué?
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of the preposition sobre (about/on) and the interrogative pronoun qué (what).
Which one should you use?
While sobre qué is a common way to say "about what", you may also see de qué used interchangeably in cases where the verb used requires the preposition de (for example, hablar de algo).
How does it change in a sentence?
In both direct and indirect questions, the word qué must carry an accent mark to distinguish it from the relative pronoun que.
How do you pronounce it?
/sobɾe ke/
Did you know?
- While sobre qué means 'about what', the word sobre on its own can also mean 'envelope'.
- The word sobre can be used as an adverb meaning 'approximately'. For example, sobre las tres means 'about three o'clock'.
- The Latin ancestor of sobre, *super*, is a direct relative of the English word 'super', meaning 'above' or 'over'.
Examples in context
- «Estaba hablando con Tom.» «¿Sobre qué?» «Sobre lo que hizo Mary.»"I was talking with Tom." "About what?" "About what Mary did."This example shows how to use sobre qué in a short dialogue.Tatoeba #3303190 by Shishir, translation #3303225 by ummibrahim
- ¿Sobre qué edad se casan los japoneses?At about what age do the Japanese marry?This sentence uses sobre qué to ask about age.Tatoeba #854880 by Coyolxauhqui, translation #505438 by blay_paul
- Quiero hablar contigo sobre qué hay que hacer.I want to speak to you about what needs to be done.This sentence uses sobre qué to express a desire to talk about a necessary action.Tatoeba #13900325 by mervert1, translation #5193391 by CK
- ¿De qué trata la última novela del escritor famoso?What is the latest novel by the famous writer about?
- ¿Sobre qué se trata la conferencia de mañana?What is tomorrow's conference about?
- ¿De qué se trata la nueva serie de televisión?What is the new TV series about?
- No entiendo tu comentario. ¿A qué te refieres?I don't understand your comment. What do you mean?
- 2 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Mateo and María are talking in a cafe about a phone call.
- MateoMaría, te llamó tu hermano.María, your brother called you.
- María¿Sobre qué?About what?
- MateoNo lo sé, solo quería hablar.I don't know, he just wanted to talk.
- MaríaEstá bien, le devolveré la llamada.It's okay, I will call him back.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries qué, sobre, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
