¿quién, yo?
/ˈkjen ˈʝo/word by word
The English phrase "who, me?" can be translated into Spanish as ¿quién, yo?
¿quién, yo? is a question used to express surprise or disbelief when someone is singled out or accused.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is a literal translation of "who, me?", using the interrogative pronoun quién (who) and the stressed subject pronoun yo (I).
How does it change in a sentence?
In this phrase, the pronoun yo is used in its stressed form to emphasize the subject's identity.
How do you pronounce it?
/ˈkjen ˈʝo/
Did you know?
- The word yo comes from the Latin egō̆, which is the same root that gave English the specialized psychological term 'ego'.
- In Spanish, the subject pronoun yo is often omitted in most sentences, so using it in ¿quién, yo? makes it feel much more forceful and emphatic than the English 'me'.
- To add a layer of playful or sarcastic refusal, you can follow your question with the idiom ¡Ni hablar!, which literally means 'Not to speak'.
Examples in context
- ¿Yo? ¿En serio? No fui yo, te lo juro.Me? Seriously? It wasn't me, I swear.
- ¿quién, yo? ¡Yo no hice nada!Who, me? I didn't do anything!
- ¿Quién, yo? No puedo creerlo.Who, me? I can't believe it.
Example conversation
Daniel and Lucía are in a classroom.
- DanielAlguien tiene que limpiar la mesa.Someone has to clean the table.
- LucíaYo puedo hacerlo, Daniel.I can do it, Daniel.
- DanielNo, Lucía, tú ya ayudaste. ¡Tú, Daniel!No, Lucía, you already helped. You, Daniel!
- Lucía¿Quién, yo? ¡Pero si acabo de llegar!Who, me? But I just arrived!
Sources
- IPA marked “word by word” joins the Wiktionary pronunciations of each word (quién, yo) and can differ in connected speech.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries quién, yo, CC BY-SA 4.0.
