A Spanish Question. Que? What?

Question

I'm learning Spanish at the moment. The one thing I'm struggling with is when to use the word Que. Not only does it seem to have several meanings (what, which) but it seems that it can be added to some sentences to change the meaning but not to mean either what or which >> tengo que beber = I have to drink

Que seems to be the main thing that I'm not sure about. When to use it, when to use it for where instead of Cual, can it change the meaning of a sentence in a similar way to when it's used with Tener etc.

Thanks in advance.

Ok, thanks that's a bit clearer. One other question...
Is que with an accent pronounced differently to que without an accent?

Answer 1

In the sense which you are referring to, "que" has the meaning of "or else". "¡Venga, hombre, que vamos a llegar tarde!" Qué and cuál form one of those word pairs that can be confusing to people learning Spanish, because they both are often translated as the same words into English.
The two words, when they have accents, are used as pronouns in questions to mean "what" or "which." (Without accents, they normally aren't used in questions and most often are connecting words or, technically speaking, relative pronouns, translated "which" or "that." Those forms will be explained in a future feature.) They can stand for either feminine or masculine objects as well as ideas or concepts. Qué is the same in the singular and plural forms; the plural of cuál is cuáles.
It is sometimes said that qué is closer to "what" in meaning, and cuál is closer to "which." But that rule isn't always reliable.
Here is a guide to knowing which of the two pronouns to use:
Qué is used when asking for definitions.
•¿Qué es una ciudad? What is a city?
•¿Qué hace un presidente? What does a president do?
•¿Qué significa "talanquera"? What does "talanquera" mean?

Qué normally is most often used before nouns (although cuál isn't necessarily incorrect and you will hear it sometimes used to mean "which"):
•¿De qué color es la camisa? What color is the shirt?
•¿Qué casa prefieres? Which house do you prefer?
•¿Qué libro leíste? Which book did you read?

Cuál usually is used before es and other forms of ser when not seeking a definition:
•¿Cuál es tu número de teléfono? What is your phone number?
•¿Cuál es tu problema? What is your problem?
•¿Cuáles son la ciudades más grandes? What are the biggest cities?

Cuál is used to suggest a selection or choice from among a group:
•¿Cuál miras? Which one are you looking at? But, ¿Qué miras? What are you looking at?
•¿Cuál prefieres? Which one do you prefer? But, ¿Qué prefieres? What do you prefer?
•¿Cuáles quieres? Which ones do you want? But, ¿Qué quieres? What do you want?
•¿Cuál es el más caro? Which is the most expensive?
•¿Cuáles son los más caros? Which are the most expensive?

Qué has some common idiomatic uses:
•¿Qué hora es? What time is it?
•¡Qué lástima! What a shame! ¡Qué hermoso! How beautiful! ¡Qué día más horrible! What a horrible day! ¡Qué susto! What a fright! ¡Qué bonito! How pretty!
•¿Qué tanto? How much?
•¿Y qué? ¿Y a mí qué? So what?
•¿Para qué? ¿Por qué? Why?
Note that, which the exception of the qué exclamations, the accented forms of these words appear only in questions. Note also that it is most common to find these words at the beginning of a sentence, although qué sometimes follows de and other prepositions.

Answer 2

I can answer this question, but it would take linguistic jargon that you are probably not familiar with. I'll try to give you some examples that might clear it up:

qué is used as a question word (in both main-clause questions and embedded questions):
¿Qué precio tiene esta camisa?
Yo no sé qué precio tiene la camisa.

Que is also used as a complementizer; that is, it introduces subordinate clauses:
Yo quiero [que ella limipe el cuarto]. (subordinate clause is in brackets)
People also use a que construction to introduce explanations:
A: ¿Porque llegaste tarde en el trabajo?
B: Es que no tengo carro.
And people use que sometimes to introduce clauses that stand by themselves, but could be a subordinate clause to something in the context. So you'll sometimes hear independent clauses that start with que.

Qué is used to introduce comments/exclamations on situations:
¡Qué barbaridad!
¡Qué sorpresa!

As you mentioned, que is used in a more or less idiomatic sense to mean "with which to"
Tengo que beber.
Although, personally I would rather use "para" in this situation:
Tengo para escribir.

As far as the "que" vs. "cual" question, that's more difficult. It's true that, in general, they are used like "what" and "which" in English. However, there are some questions where "cual" is always used instead of "que". Here are some:
¿Cuál es tu nombre?
¿Cuál es tu número de teléfono?
You can basically memorize these as "exceptions".

P.S. Although que is written with and without an accent mark in different situations, it sounds exactly the same in all. The accent mark is simply an orthographic device (and apparently an unnecessary one for linguistic purposes). In fact, a lot of times native speakers of Spanish don't use any accent marks in their writing, and it's still understandable.

Martha P remembered some uses of que that I forgot, and Caicos Turkey went into more detail on the que vs. cual question.

Answer 3

When you are talking about a question, then
Qué (with an accent) means what?
Cuál means which (whether in a question or not).

Now QUE without an accent is more complicated.

if you are in the middle of a sentence and you say something like
I have to do a spanish test.
then it would be
Tengo que hacer un exámen de español. (without accent)
in that case it means "have to".

Tengo que ir al dentista.
I have to go to the dentist.

It can also be used for comparison purposes, in which case it means "than".
Tu eres mayor que tu hermano.
You are older than your brother.

Finally to make things more complicated it can also mean "that"
The new house is the one that counts.
La nueva casa es la que cuenta.


I know if it is not your language it can be confusing. Good luck.

Answer 4

Ok, the subject is not always required in spanish, so I would write: Arturo Sandoval es un trompetista famoso. Nació en Cuba en los años cincuenta y comenzó a tocar música a los 13 años en la banda del pueblo. Después de tocar muchos instrumentos, se enamoró de la trompeta (without que). Desde entonces ha estado TOCANDO la trompeta.

Answer 5

What Que

Answer 6

Que = adjetive ; Qué = pronon & Que = Conjuction
¿Que día es hoy? (adj) what´s today date?
¿Qué has dicho) (pron) what did you say
Dijo que vendría (conj) he/she said that he/she´d come
¿Que quieres beber? (adj) what do you want TO drink
Eres igual que mi padre (conj) you are LIKE my father
QUE : has a lot of meanings in Engl. and not always it can be translate by WHAT. WHICH = cual (¿QUÉ sombrero te gusta? Which hat do you like; or ¿CUAL de ellos te gusta? Which one do you like. I´m affraid that you have to learn it by heart. Sorry!

Answer 7

cual- is which and que- is what.
You use que when for example telling someone what u want.
You use qué (w/ and accent) when asking a question.

Answer 8

Good for Caicos Turkey !!! The reply is very correct


caicos.......are you spanish teacher?

Answer 9

cual is "which", que is "what" but i see your point. i am fluent in spanish but i can't answer that question.

Answer 10

el "que" lo podes usar para cualquier cosa!!! cuando decis "have to" en castellano se traduce "tenes que"...
sino podes encontrar una frase del tipo: "que queres que te diga?" que se diria: "what do you want me to say?"
suerte con tu spanish!!!!
Kisseess!!