The difference between "¿Qué es ..." and "¿Cuál es ..."

David M.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

The difference between "¿Qué es ..." and "¿Cuál es ..."


I am in the middle of doing your writing exercise "Castile comes from 'Castle'" > https://progress.lawlessspanish.com/my-languages/spanish/exercises/take/667/6083595?page=6 ... and incorrectly used "¿Qué ... ?" to translate "What is its origin?" ... I have to confess that the difference between "¿Qué es ... ?" and  "¿Cuál es ... ?" was something which I had not yet grasped properly !

I consulted my grammar book, which explains that "¿Qué es ... ?" really means "What kind of thing?", i.e., inquiring about the definition of something's nature.... > which is of course what you say in your reply [below] to R.Z., [Thank you Inma !] - and which is supplemented by the other comments from Kwiziq students.

It might be worth mentioning this distinction in the notes accompanying the above-mentioned writing exercise.


Asked 3 hours ago
David M. asked:

The difference between "¿Qué es ..." and "¿Cuál es ..."


I am in the middle of doing your writing exercise "Castile comes from 'Castle'" > https://progress.lawlessspanish.com/my-languages/spanish/exercises/take/667/6083595?page=6 ... and incorrectly used "¿Qué ... ?" to translate "What is its origin?" ... I have to confess that the difference between "¿Qué es ... ?" and  "¿Cuál es ... ?" was something which I had not yet grasped properly !

I consulted my grammar book, which explains that "¿Qué es ... ?" really means "What kind of thing?", i.e., inquiring about the definition of something's nature.... > which is of course what you say in your reply [below] to R.Z., [Thank you Inma !] - and which is supplemented by the other comments from Kwiziq students.

It might be worth mentioning this distinction in the notes accompanying the above-mentioned writing exercise.


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