Wednesday, November 27, 2019
Learn About Spanish Interrogative Pronouns
Learn About Spanish Interrogative Pronouns Quà © and culà are two words that can be confusing to people learning Spanish, because they can be translated as the same word into English, namely, what.à It is sometimes said thatà quà ©Ã is closer to what in meaning, andà culà is closer to which. But that rule isnt always true. When to Use Accent Marks The two words, when they haveà accents, are used as interrogativeà pronounsà in questions to mean what or which.à Quà ©Ã is the same in the singular and plural forms; the plural ofà culà isà cules. Accentedà forms of these words appear only in exclamations and in questions, which includes anà indirectà question. The accentedà quà ©Ã is found most often at the beginning of a sentence, althoughà it sometimes follows deà and other prepositions, especially in indirect questions.à For example,à à ¿De quà © color es laà camisa?à meaning, What color is the shirt?à Without accents, normally queà andà cual are not being used as a question. Most often, they are connecting words or, technically speaking, relative pronouns, translated to mean which or that. They can stand for either feminine or masculine objects as well as ideas or concepts. An example of this usage is a popular phrase,à Creo que sà , meaning, I think that is so. Use Cases of Quà © and Cul When Asking Questions There are a number of ways to ask questions using the wordsà quà ©Ã andà cul.à A speaker can ask for a definition, like What is this?, which uses quà ©.à Or, you can ask for a choice selection from a group, What looks better, this red blouse or this black one?, which usesà cul. Quà ©Used for Definitions A number of examples may help explain usage of quà © asking for a definition:à à ¿Quà © es una ciudad?,à meaning, What is a city? Or,à à ¿Quà © hace un presidente?, meaning,à What does a president do? Or,à à ¿Quà © significa talanquera?, asking, What does talanquera mean? Quà ©Used Before Nouns Quà © is usually the interrogative pronoun that is used right before nouns. For example,à à ¿Quà © casa prefieres?,à meaning, Which house do you prefer? Or, à ¿Quà © libro leà ste?,à asking, Which book did you read? CulUsed Before Forms of Ser Culà is used beforeà esà and other forms of the verbà ser, meaning to be, when not seeking a definition. For example,à à ¿Cul es tu nà ºmero de telà ©fono?,à meaning, What is your phone number? Or,à à ¿Cul es tu problema?,à meaning, What is your problem? Or, à ¿Cules son las ciudades ms grandes?,à asking, What are the biggest cities? Cul Used toMake a Choice Culà is used to suggest or ask for a selection or choice from a group. For example,à à ¿Cul miras?,à meaning,à Which one are you looking at? But, à ¿Quà © miras?,à would be used to ask when you want to know, What are you looking at? An example of the plural form of the interrogative pronoun used in making a choice would be,à à ¿Cules quieres?, meaning,à Which ones do you want? But, à ¿Quà © quieres?,à would be the proper way to ask, What do you want? Quà © as an Idiom Anà idiomà is anà expression, word or phrase that has a figurative meaning traditionally understood by native speakers. For example,à à ¡Quà © lstima! meaning, What a shame! Or,à à ¡Quà © susto!à meaning, What a fright!à Some of the most common idiomatic expressions that are used daily in native Spanish speechà are à ¿Y quà ©? or à ¿Y a mà quà ©?,à both meaning, So what? Or,à à ¿Para quà ©? or à ¿Por quà ©?,à meaning,à Why?
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