¿Qué letra es esta?
The phrase ¿Qué letra es esta? is how you say "what letter is this?" in Spanish.
Which one should you use?
If you were referring to a masculine noun instead of letra, you would use este instead of esta.
How does it change in a sentence?
The word esta is the feminine singular form of "this" to agree with the feminine noun letra.
Did you know?
- While letra means a character of the alphabet, it is also used in financial contexts to refer to a 'bill of exchange' or a promissory note.
- While letra refers to a single character, in many Spanish-speaking countries, if you ask for a letra in a song, you are actually asking for the lyrics.
- The Spanish word letra descends from the Latin littera, which originally came from the Ancient Greek word diphthéra meaning 'tablet'.
Examples in context
- Disculpe, ¿qué letra es esta?Excuse me, what letter is this?
- ¿Podría decirme qué letra es esta?Could you tell me what letter this is?
- Me olvidé, ¿qué letra es?I forgot, what letter is it?
- ¿Podría decirme qué letra es esta, por favor?Could you please tell me what letter this is?
- Es la letra 'B'.It is the letter 'B'.
- No entiendo la nota, ¿qué letra es esta?I don't understand the note, what letter is this?
Example conversation
Elena and Daniel are studying Spanish together.
- ElenaDaniel, ¿qué letra es esta?Daniel, what letter is this?
- DanielEs la letra 'ñ'.It is the letter 'ñ'.
- Elena¡Ah, ya la veo!Ah, I see it now!
- DanielEs muy importante en español.It is very important in Spanish.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries es, esta, letra, qué, CC BY-SA 4.0.
