Using "cómo es que/cómo que" for "how come/what do you mean?"

Learn how to ask "how come..?" in Spanish with cómo es que..., cómo es eso que..., cómo que...?

To ask "How come/why something is happening/has happened]?" we often use:

For example:

Like in English, this is generally used in situations where the speaker finds something surprising, unusual or difficult to understand. 

Bear in mind that in Spanish it doesn't work as a stand-alone sentence like in English.

For example:

In English you could respond by asking:

in Spanish this would be incorrect:

What we can say for example is:

You will also often hear with the same meaning as before:

For example:

Note that there are other less idiomatic but similar structures that can be used with the same purpose, although these do use the subjunctive, for example:

 In a very similar way than "cómo es que" we also use:

This is used when a person reacts in a negative way to a statement said by another person. For example, imagine a daughter says to her father:

Her dad, negatively surprised, reacts by saying:

Here are other examples using "cómo que":

There is a very similar way to express surprise/disbelief  Using que at the beginning of a question to express disbelief (without a written accent)

See also Using "anda, anda que, anda que no" for surprise, encouragement, emphasis (interjections)