To ask what or which in Spanish we use qué and cuál respectively.
Learn about qué + verb in Spanish
We use qué followed by a verb when we are asking something "general". For example:
Possible answers to this could be, for example:
Quiero tomar un café.
I want to have a coffee.
Quiero churros con chocolate.
I want churros with chocolate.
We also use qué with the verb ser or significar seeking a "definition". For example:
The answers to these questions imply some sort of definition.
Learn about cuál + verb in Spanish
We use cuál followed by a verb when we select something from a pre-defined group. For example:
Two people talking about flowers:
Two people in front of a stall selling bracelets:
Two people choosing which film to watch (from a selection):
The plural of cuál
The plural of cuál is cuáles. If we are selecting something that is a plural noun or selecting more than one thing out of a group, we use the plural cuáles and use the verb in plural:
Looking at different items in a shop:
We are selecting here something that is plural (tomates, gafas) out of a selection that we see in front of us.
The difference between asking with qué and asking with cuál/cuáles is that the latter is asking about something specific from a predetermined group of items. Qué is for general questions where there is no predefined selection. Here are two simple contrasting examples:
¿Qué necesitas?
What do you need? [in general]
¿Cuál necesitas?
Which one do you need? [specific, from a selection of predefined items]
Both qué and cuál are used here as interrogatives, so they always need the written accent: ¿qué...? ¿cuál...?
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Learn more about these related Spanish grammar topics
Examples and resources
- ¿Qué es la "paella"? - La paella es un plato típico de Valencia.- What is "paella"? - Paella is a typical dish from Valencia.
Voy a regalarte una pulsera, ¿cuál prefieres?I'm going to buy you a bracelet, which one do you prefer?
Hay tomates rojos y tomates verdes, ¿cuáles son mejores para la ensalada?There are red tomatoes and green tomatoes, which ones are better for the salad?
Te gustan mucho las flores, ¿cuál es tu flor favorita?You really like flowers, which is your favourite flower?
