¿De qué hablaron Julio y What did Julio and Luis talk
Luis? about?
Me preguntaron qué hacía. They asked me what I was doing.
In its adjectival function the above restriction does not apply:
¿Qué vestido has comprado Which dress did you buy
al final? in the end?
¿A qué chica te refieres? What girl are you referring to?
Notes:
1 For the use of cuál/esto translate ‘what’, see 27.2.2.
2 In indirect questions lo quecommonly replaces qué: No sé lo que/qué voy a
comprar para Charo‘I don’t know what I’m going to buy for Charo’.
3 ¿Qué tal?is common in speech to ask for an opinion or assessment: ¿Qué tal
las vacaciones?‘How was your holiday?’.
Cuál/Cuáles ‘which one/s’, ‘what’
In most varieties of Spanish cuál/cuálesis a pronoun that can be used with
reference both to persons and things. It agrees in number with what is
referred to:
¿Cuáles son los que más te Which are the ones that you
gustan? like most?
¿A cuál vamos? Which one shall we go to?
¿Cuál de los tres hermanos Which of the three brothers is
es el más accesible? the most approachable?
Cuál/cuálesis also used, instead of qué, with the verb serfollowed by an
abstract noun, unless a mere definition is being requested:
¿Cuál es la razón por la que What is the reason for which
huyó? she fled?
¿Cuáles fueron las causas What were the causes of the
del descalabro bursátil? stockmarket crash?
¿Qué es el estoicismo? What is stoicism?
Note: Particularly in Latin America, cuál/cuálesis used also as an adjective, e.g. ¿A
cuál hora prefieres venir?[LA] ‘What time would you prefer to come?, as opposed
to ¿A qué hora prefieres venir?The former usage is best avoided in Europe.
27.2.2
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2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1011
1
12111
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
20111
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
30111
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
40
41111
Spanish
interrogative
words
279
