¿quién es ese?
The English phrase "who is that" is translated into Spanish as ¿quién es ese?
A question used to ask for the identity of a person who is far from the speaker.
Which one should you use?
Use ¿quién es esa? if the person being identified is female. Use ¿quién es aquel? instead of ¿quién es ese? if the person is even further away from the speaker.
Did you know?
- If you are asking about a person whose identity is completely unknown and mysterious, you might use ¿quién será ese?, which translates literally as 'who will that be?'
- The word ese actually descends from the Latin word ipse, which means 'himself' or 'the very one'.
- The word quién carries a written accent mark to distinguish it from the relative pronoun quien, which lacks the accent.
Example conversation
Javier and María are watching people in a park.
- Javier¿quién es ese?Who is that?
- MaríaEs un actor famoso.He is a famous actor.
- Javier¡Ah, ya veo!Ah, I see!
- MaríaÉl es muy amable.He is very kind.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries es, ese, quién, CC BY-SA 4.0.
