¿Qué?
standard
In Puerto Rico "what" is ¿Qué?, as in ¿Qué es eso? When you did not hear something, people say ¿Cómo? or ¿Qué dijiste?
Meaning: what (interrogative) (pronoun)
Ways to say it
| Spanish | Note |
|---|---|
| ¿Qué? | standard |
| ¿Qué dijiste? | casual |
| ¿Cómo? | asking someone to repeat |
Qué is used to ask what something is or what is happening. To ask for a repeat, ¿Cómo? is polite and ¿Qué dijiste? is casual.
How does it change in a sentence?
Question words carry a written accent, so qué in a question is different from que meaning "that".
Did you know?
- Spanish uses qué with an accent in questions and exclamations, and plain que to join clauses.
Examples in context
- ¿Qué quieres comer?What do you want to eat?
- ¿Qué es eso?What is that?
- ¿Cómo? No te escuché.What? I did not hear you.
Example conversation
Jorge and his sister Lidia talk in a noisy kitchen in Bayamón.
- JorgeLidia, ¿qué quieres para cenar?Lidia, what do you want for dinner?
- Lidia¿Cómo? No te oigo.What? I cannot hear you.
- JorgeQue qué quieres cenar.I said what you want for dinner.
