quién es ella
/kjen es eʝa/from spelling rules
The English phrase "who is she" is translated into Spanish as quién es ella.
quién es ella is a question used to ask for the identity of a female person.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of quién (who), es (is) and ella (she).
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Spain, the word tía can be used in informal situations, such as in the phrase ¿Quién es esa tía?
How does it change in a sentence?
In written Spanish, the question must be preceded by an inverted question mark.
Did you know?
- In many Spanish-speaking cultures, asking ¿quién es ella? about a woman may be followed by a detailed description of her family ties rather than just her name.
- In certain regions, the phrase ¿quién es ella? can be used rhetorically to express disbelief or disdain about a person's perceived importance.
- If you are asking about a woman who is physically present, a native speaker will almost always replace ella with the demonstrative esa to say ¿quién es esa?
Examples in context
- ¿Quién es ella? ¿Su novia?Who is she? Your girlfriend?This example shows how to ask for someone's identity and suggest a relationship using quién es ella.Tatoeba #1089959 by Shishir, translation #9194649 by DJ_Saidez
- ¿Quién es ella? ¿Tu novia?Who is she, your girlfriend?This example uses quién es ella to ask for someone's identity and relationship using the informal possessive 'tu'.Tatoeba #1089960 by Shishir, translation #9194650 by DJ_Saidez
- ¿Quién es ella y cómo se llama?Who is she and what's her name?This example combines quién es ella with a follow-up question about the person's name.Tatoeba #3039232 by marcelostockle, translation #3004711 by Hybrid
- 3 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
María and Mateo are at a party and see a woman they don't know.
- María¿Quién es ella?Who is she?
- MateoNo lo sé, pero parece una amiga de Luis.I don't know, but she looks like a friend of Luis.
- MaríaElla tiene un vestido muy bonito.She has a very beautiful dress.
- MateoEs verdad, es muy elegante.It's true, she is very elegant.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
