¿Qué pasa?
/ˈke ˈpasa/word by word
The Spanish phrase for "what is going on?" is ¿Qué pasa?
¿Qué pasa? is used both to ask what is happening in a specific situation and as a casual greeting similar to "What's up?" or "What's happening?"
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is literally translated as "What happens?"
How does it change in a sentence?
If you want to emphasize that something is occurring at this exact moment (e.g., seeing a commotion), you can use the continuous form ¿Qué está pasando?
When do people say it?
When used as a greeting, a common response to ¿Qué pasa? is Nada (Nothing) or No pasa nada (Nothing is happening/It's fine).
Did you know?
- The word pasa shares the same Latin root as the word for 'raisin'. It comes from passa, which originally referred to a 'spread' or dried grape.
- In some Spanish-speaking regions, ¿Qué pasa? can be spoken with a sharp tone to mean 'What do you want?' or 'What is your problem?', turning a greeting into a confrontation.
- English speakers often use ¿Qué pasa? as a stereotypical Spanish phrase, but in many countries, it is far less common as a greeting than local alternatives like ¿Qué onda? in Mexico.
Examples in context
- Oye, ¿qué pasa?Hey, what is going on?
Sources
- IPA marked “word by word” joins the Wiktionary pronunciations of each word (qué, pasa) and can differ in connected speech.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries pasa, qué, CC BY-SA 4.0.
