¿de qué raza eres?
The English phrase "what is your race" is translated into Spanish as ¿de qué raza eres?
This phrase is used to ask about a person's ethnic or racial background. In many Spanish-speaking cultures, questions about race can be highly sensitive or perceived as intrusive depending on the social context.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase de qué raza literally translates to "of what race", where de means "of" and qué means "what".
Which one should you use?
For more formal variations, you can use ¿Cuál es su raza? (What is your race?) or ¿A qué raza pertenece usted? (To what race do you belong?).
Is it said differently in some regions?
The form ¿De qué raza sos? is a colloquial version used in certain Latin American regions.
How does it change in a sentence?
The verb changes to son in the phrase ¿de qué raza son? when you are asking about the race of multiple people (what is their race / what is your plural race).
Did you know?
- The word raza is an unusual linguistic traveler, likely evolving from the Latin radius, which means 'ray' or 'spoke' of a wheel. It may even be a doublet of the word raya, which refers to a line or stripe.
- The term raza is often used in a patriotic sense in Mexico to describe the shared heritage of the people as la raza.
- In many Spanish-speaking countries, people identify by etnia (ethnicity) or mestizaje (mixed heritage) rather than a single raza.
Example conversation
Two students are chatting about their family histories.
- AlejandroTengo una duda, ¿de qué raza eres?I have a question, what is your race?
- SofíaSoy mestiza, mi familia es de México.I am mixed, my family is from Mexico.
- AlejandroQué interesante, yo soy blanco.How interesting, I am white.
- SofíaEs genial conocer nuestras raíces.It's great to know our roots.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries de, eres, qué, raza, CC BY-SA 4.0.
