quién
/ˈkjen/
The English phrase "qui" is translated into Spanish as quién.
quién is a pronoun used to ask which person is being referred to.
How does it change in a sentence?
The form quién includes an accent mark when used in a question or an exclamation. The word quién has a plural form quiénes used when the answer is expected to be multiple people.
How do you pronounce it?
/ˈkjen/
Did you know?
- The word quién is a distant relative of the English word 'who'. Both evolved from the same ancient root used to ask questions in Proto-Indo-European languages.
- Unlike English, which uses 'who' for both subjects and objects, Spanish uses quién but requires a preceding a when the person is the direct object of the action.
- Spanish uses quién to start 'indirect' questions, such as 'I don't know who is coming', which still requires the accent mark despite not being a direct question.
Examples in context
- ¿Qué quieres hacer?What do you want to do?
- ¿Quién es tu mejor amigo?Who is your best friend?
- ¿Quién llamó por teléfono hace un momento?Who called on the phone a moment ago?
- No sé quién tiene las llaves.I don't know who has the keys.
Example conversation
Sofía and Mateo are looking at a old family photo.
- Sofía¿Quién es el chico de la foto, Mateo?Who is the boy in the photo, Mateo?
- MateoEs mi primo pequeño.It is my little cousin.
- Sofía¿Y quién es la niña que está al lado?And who is the girl who is next to him?
- MateoElla es mi hermana Sofía.She is my sister Sofia.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry quién, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries quién, CC BY-SA 4.0.
