‘Qué’ and ‘Cuál’ are pretty straight forward, unless you are asking ‘What is…?’. That’s when things get a bit more complicated but… fear not!
Read on for a simple rule for how to choose between ‘qué’ and ‘cuál’… you’ll wonder why you ever struggled.
So, what do these words actually mean?
¿Qué? = What?
¿Cuál? = Which (one)?
For most instances, you can use them like we do in English when saying either ‘What?…’ or ‘Which (one)…?’
A simple explanation for ‘¿Qué?’
¿Qué? means What? Don’t forget that you need the accent, otherwise you are saying ‘that‘.
You can use it as you would in English.
I.e.
| What do you think? ¿Qué piensas? | What do you do on a weekend? ¿Qué haces los fines de semana? | What did they say? ¿Qué dijeron? | ¿Qué harías tú? What would you do? |
A simple explanation for ‘¿Cuál?’
¿Cuál? means Which?
Although it is better to think of it as ‘Which one?’ because, like with English, we should use it when choosing between 2 or more things.
I.e.
| Which (one) do you prefer? ¿Cuál prefieres? | Which (one) is your house? ¿Cuál es tu casa? | Which (one) is it? ¿Cuál es? | Which (one) did you choose? ¿Cuál elegiste? |
Keep in mind that if you are choosing more than one and instead saying ‘Which ones?’ it becomes ‘¿Cuáles?’
I.e.
| Which (ones) are your gifts? ¿Cuáles son tus regalos? | Which (ones) will you donate? ¿Cuáles donarás? | Which (ones) did he buy? ¿Cuáles compró? | Which (ones) do you know? ¿Cuáles conoces? |
Note:
In English we often use what? instead of which?
I.e. ‘What do you prefer?’ Instead of ‘Which do you prefer?’
This is fine… Just be careful not to say ‘Which?’ when there is no choice as that’s not quite right.
Here’s when it get’s tricky… Using these before ‘SER’
These rules will work great and translate really well from English, in all cases, except when you say ‘What is…?’
You don’t need to worry about asking ‘Which is/are the…?’ because these work just like English = ‘Cuál es el…?/ ’ ‘Cuáles son los…?
However, if you want to ask ‘What is…?’ things get a bit more complicated!
So… asking ‘What is…?’
When we want to ask ‘What is…?’ You would expect to just use ‘¿Qué es? However, it’s not quite as straight forward with SER.
You may have seen:
- What is the date today?
- ¿Cuál es la fecha hoy? (Which is the date today?)
This is because when we need to say ‘What is…? in some cases you will quite literally say:
‘¿Qué es…? (What is…), whilst in other cases you need to say ‘¿Cuál es…? (Which is…?)
Here’s how to choose the correct one…
We need to use ‘¿Qué es…?’ (What is…?)’ when you are asking for the definition of something. In other words, asking what something is.
I.e
| What is a house? ¿Qué es una casa? | What is a key? ¿Qué es una llave? | What is a bag? ¿Qué es un bolso? |
| A place you live in for shelter. | A device used to open doors. | Something used to carry belongings. |
But… if just asking for information you need to use ¿Cuál es…?
| ¿Cuál es tu nombre? = What is your name? (Which is your name?) |
| ¿Cuál es tu número de teléfono? = What is your telephone number? (Which is your telephone number?) |
| ¿Cuál es la fecha hoy? = What is the date today? (Which is the date today?) |
The trick to deciding if you are asking for a definition is:
- If you are asking ‘What is a…? you are asking for a definition and would, therefore, need ‘¿Qué es un/una…?’
- If you are not saying ‘a‘ but perhaps instead ‘What is your…?’ Or ‘What is the…?’ then you are just asking for information, not a definition… and that would be ‘¿Cuál es tu…? / ¿Cuál es el...?’
What is it?
Sometimes you won’t ask ‘What is a….?’ or ‘What is the/your…?’ and when this happens it’s not as obvious whether you need ‘¿Qué es…?’ or ‘ ¿Cuál es…?’
You need to think about what you were talking about before you ask the question and that will help you realise whether you are asking for a definition (¿Qué es?) or whether you are asking for information (¿Cuál es?)
For example:
| Have you seen this?… What is it? = ¿Has visto éste?… ¿Qué es? |
| (For this, you would be expecting a response with some kind of definition of the thing. I.e. It is an insect.) |
| Do you have my address? No, what is it? ¿Tienes mi dirección? No, ¿cuál es? |
| (For this, you would be expecting to get information in the response. I.e. my address is 11 Main street.) |
Don’t forget that… you would also use ‘Cuál es? if you actually want to say ‘Which (one) is it?’ For example:
- My house is over there. Ah really, which (one) is it?
- Mi casa está por allí. Ay, ¿de verdad? ¿Cuál es?
In conclusion
The best thing to do when dealing with ‘Qué’ and ‘Cuál’ is to treat them the same way you would in English… with the one exception of when saying ‘What is…’.
If asking ‘What is…?’ you need to remember that ‘What is a…?’ is asking for a definition and therefore needs ‘¿Qué es un/una…?’. However, when asking ‘What is the…? or ‘What is your…?’ etc, this is asking for information, and you need ‘¿Cuál es el…’/’¿Cuál es tu…?’.
Let’s see if you can put this simple rule into practise . Head over to Simple Spanish Tips and have a go at the interactive practice activities!
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