¿Qué te pasa?
/ˈke te ˈpasa/word by word
To ask "what's wrong?" in Spanish, say ¿Qué te pasa?
¿Qué te pasa? asks someone what is bothering them or what is the matter. Said gently it shows concern. Said sharply it can sound like what is your problem.
What does it mean word for word?
Qué means what, te means to you and pasa means happens, so it is literally what is happening to you.
How does it change in a sentence?
te is the informal singular you. With someone you address formally, or with a group, the pronoun changes.
How do you pronounce it?
¿Qué te pasa? is pronounced /ˈke te ˈpasa/, with stress on Qué and on the first syllable of pasa.
Did you know?
- The word pasa is a homonym in Spanish. While it means 'happens' in this phrase, it is also the word for 'raisin'.
- In some Spanish-speaking cultures, asking ¿Qué te pasa? while gesturing toward the head or forehead can change the nuance to imply the person is acting crazy.
- The word qué used here is a direct linguistic descendant of the Latin word 'quid', which is the ancestor of the English word 'what'.
Examples in context
- ¿Qué te pasa?What's wrong with you?
- Pareces triste, ¿qué te pasa?You look sad, what's wrong?
- Te veo nerviosa, ¿qué te pasa?You look nervous, what's wrong?
Example conversation
Mateo sees Maria looking upset in the office.
- MateoMaría, ¿qué te pasa?Maria, what's wrong?
- MaríaNo es nada, de verdad.It's nothing, really.
- MateoPareces muy preocupada.You look very worried.
- MaríaSolo tuve un mal día.I just had a bad day.
