Interrogative Adjectives in Spanish

As you may have guessed, interrogative adjectives are adjectives used exclusively in questions. These parts of speech are used to ask questions about what, which, and how much or how many. In Spanish, the interrogative adjectives are qué [what], cuál [which] and cuánto(s) [how many/how much].

Qué means "what," and is used in questions about physical objects or non-material ideas.
¿Qué información necesitas? [What information do you need?]
¿Qué quieres ver? [What do you want to see?]
¿Qué vamos a hacer? [What are we going to do?]

Cuál can be translated as "which" or "what." It is used in situations where there is a limited answer set. It agrees with the noun it modifies in number, with the plural form cuáles.
¿Cuál foto te gusta mas? [Which/what photo do you like most?]
¿Cuál coche compraste? [Which car did you buy?]
¿Cuál clase tienes ahora? [Which class do you have now?]
¿Cuáles libros necesitas? [Which books do you need?]

Cuánto means "how much." It is used to ask about a quantity that cannot be counted. Before a feminine noun, use the feminine form cuánta.
¿Cuánta agua falta? [How much water is left.]
¿Cuánto arroz quieres? [How much rice do you want?]
¿Cuánto cuestan las manzanas? [How much do the apples cost?]

Cuántos means "how many," and is used to ask about amounts of items that can be counted. Before a feminine noun, use the feminine form cuántas.
¿Cuántos libros lees? [How many books are you reading?]
¿Cuántos lápices hay? [How many pencils are there?]
¿Cuántas sobrinas tienes? [How many nieces do you have?]

Notice that qué, cuál, and cuánto all have accents. This is to identify them as question signalers and distinguish them from their use as relative pronouns.


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