¿y ahora qué?
/ʝ aˈoɾa ˈke/word by word
The English phrase 'what now' is translated into Spanish as ¿y ahora qué?
This phrase is used to express frustration or impatience when a situation has changed or stalled and the next step is unclear.
Meaning: what do you want? (phrase)
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of y (and), ahora (now) and qué (what).
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Mexican Spanish, ¿Y ahora qué onda? is used casually to ask 'what's up now?' In some Central American countries, ¿Y ahorita qué hacemos? is used to mean 'what do we do right now?'
How does it change in a sentence?
In written Spanish, the phrase must include both opening and closing question marks: ¿ and ?
How do you pronounce it?
/ʝ aˈoɾa ˈke/
Did you know?
- The word ahora is a contraction of the Latin phrase hāc hōrā, which literally means 'at this hour'.
Examples in context
- ¿Y ahora qué?What now?This sentence is useful for seeing the standard form ¿y ahora qué? in context.Tatoeba #1357545 by marcelostockle, translation #6575334 by Eccles17
- Ya terminamos, ¿y ahora qué?We are finished, so what now?
Example conversation
Alejandro and Lucía have finished cleaning the living room.
- AlejandroYa limpiamos todo, ¿y ahora qué?We already cleaned everything, so what now?
- LucíaNo sé, ¿y ahora qué quieres tú?I don't know, and what do you want now?
- AlejandroPodemos ir a comer algo.We can go eat something.
- LucíaMe parece una buena idea.That sounds like a good idea.
Sources
- IPA marked “word by word” joins the Wiktionary pronunciations of each word (y, ahora, qué) and can differ in connected speech.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries ahora, qué, y, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
