Que or Que with a tilde?

Question

I'm confused as to when "que" needs a tilde.

I think you meant to say "accent" because a tilde is this mark: ~ - --Mariana--, Sep 28, 2009

Marianne, if you believe that "accent" is more correct than "tilde", you need to go back to Paralee's reference Material @ "http://www.spanishdict.com/answers/100006/accents" - Moe, Sep 28, 2009

Answer 1

Use

que When it acts as a relative pronoun (relates to the previous noun) to link to clauses together (may be seen as que, el que, la que, los que, las que, or lo que depending on what it is referring to).

Esa mujer que ha traído las cervesas - That woman that has brought the beer [subject pronoun]

El autobús que tienes que coger no está aquí. -The bus that you have to catch is not here. [object pronoun]

que When it acts as a subordinating conjunction to mean that, than or because

Dice que no le gusta nada - He says that he doesn't like anything.

Los burros son más grandes que los gatos. - Donkeys are bigger than cats

Hoy no salimos, que nieva - We aren't going out today because it's snowing.

que When expressing a wish or command to signal the subjunctive (imperative que)

¡Que viva el rey! - long live the king!

Que entran. - Let them come in.

qué When it is any time it is used to introduce a question (i.e. used interrogatively)

¿Qué es esto? - **What is this?

qué When making an emphatic statement (i.e. exclamation)

¡Qué lástima! - What a shame!

There are other constructs (usually to link clauses together) that can be used besides the ones above that include que. Some of these include: sino que, así que, etc..

I am sure that I have forgotten something, but hopefully this will be enough to get you started towards feeling comfortable with que vs qué

Answer 2

Hi JoAnn. Que needs an accent mark when it's used as part of a question.

Here’s a link to an article in the Reference section on how to use written accents in Spanish.

According to the article, all interrogative (question) words have a written accent to signal that someone is asking a question and not just making a statement.

¿Cómo? How/What?

¿Cuál(es)? Which (ones)?

¿Cuándo? When?

¿Cuánto(s)/a(s)? How much/many?

¿Dónde? Where?

¿Qué? What?

¿Quién? Who/whom?

¿Por qué? Why?

Too bad the referenced article confuses the acute accent with the tilde. How do we get that fixed? - ribower, Sep 28, 2009

In re "accent" versus "tilde" see Paralee's reference material @ "http://www.spanishdict.com/answers/100006/accents" - Moe, Sep 28, 2009

Answer 3

Qué is used in interrogative (questions) and exclamatory sentences.

Example:

¿Qué hora es?

¡Qué bonita!

As opposed to que, which is used as a relative pronoun (whom, who, that, or which in English) and can replace the direct object or subject of a sentence.

Example:

Quiero el reloj. Yo lo vi. --> Quiero el reloj que lo vi.

Answer 4

Papercuts said:

Qué is used in .... exclamatory sentences.

Yes... that too!

Just be careful not to confuse an exclamatory sentence such as ¡Qué suerte!/How lucky! with the "imperative que" which can also carry an exclamation ¡Que gane el mejor!/Let the best man win! - Izanoni1, Sep 28, 2009