¿qué recomiendas?
In Spanish, "what do you recommend?" is expressed as ¿qué recomiendas?
This phrase is a question used to ask someone for their suggestion or advice on what to choose. It is commonly used in restaurants to ask a waiter for a dish suggestion or in shops to ask a clerk for a product recommendation.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of qué (what) and recomiendas (you recommend, second-person singular informal).
Which one should you use?
The default form ¿qué recomiendas? is the informal way to ask the question, while other forms are used depending on who you are addressing.
How does it change in a sentence?
Depending on whom you are addressing, you can use different verb forms: ¿qué recomienda usted? is the formal version for a single person and ¿qué recomiendan? is used when asking a group of people for their recommendation.
Did you know?
- If you want to ask what is the 'house specialty' without using the word recommend, you can ask ¿Qué es lo que más sale?, which literally means 'What is it that comes out the most?'
- The word qué shares the same linguistic DNA as the English word 'what' and the Latin 'quid', all tracing back to a single ancestral root.
- In many Spanish-speaking countries, if you ask ¿qué recomienda? in a very casual setting like a street food stall, you might sound accidentally overly polite or even distant.
Examples in context
- No sé qué libro leer, ¿qué recomiendas?I don't know which book to read, what do you recommend?
Example conversation
Maria and Javier are looking at a menu in a restaurant.
- MaríaTodo se ve rico, ¿qué recomiendas?Everything looks delicious, what do you recommend?
- JavierTe recomiendo los tacos de pescado.I recommend the fish tacos.
- MaríaSuena bien, voy a pedir eso.That sounds good, I'll order that.
- JavierBuena elección, María.Good choice, Maria.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries qué, CC BY-SA 4.0.
