¿qué significa esto?
The phrase "what does this mean?" is translated into Spanish as ¿qué significa esto?
If you want to ask specifically about how a term is used in a different part of the world, you can use the expression ¿Qué significa esto en tu país? to ask "What does this mean in your country?"
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of qué (what), significa (means) and esto (this).
How does it change in a sentence?
The verb significa is the third-person singular conjugation of significar (to mean), which agrees with the singular subject esto.
Did you know?
- While ¿qué significa esto? asks for a definition, if you are confused by a social situation or a gesture, you might hear ¿qué quiere decir esto?, which literally asks what the situation 'wants to say'.
- If you are confused by a person's behavior rather than a word, you might say ¿Qué significa esto? with a specific tone to mean 'What is the meaning of this?' in a confrontational way.
- The word esto is a neuter pronoun, a grammatical category that does not exist in English and is used specifically for unidentified objects or abstract concepts.
Examples in context
- ¿Qué significa libro?What does book mean?
- ¿Qué significa esta palabra?What does this word mean?
- No entiendo la palabra, ¿qué significa esto?I don't understand the word, what does this mean?
- He leído una frase extraña, ¿qué significa esto?I have read a strange phrase, what does this mean?
Example conversation
Javier is reading a book with Lucía.
- JavierLucía, mira esta palabra. ¿Qué significa esto?Lucía, look at this word. What does this mean?
- LucíaSignifica que el personaje está muy feliz.It means that the character is very happy.
- JavierAh, ahora entiendo la historia.Ah, now I understand the story.
- LucíaEs una palabra muy común.It is a very common word.
