The relationship between "Qué" and "Ser"

Question

I have been studying "Qué vs. Cuál" and ran across the following point:

• "Qué" is never used before the verb "Ser"

Does this hold any truth?

I do realize there are typically exceptions to rules like this, if it is indeed true, so please include those as well.

Also, if you have any easy pointers on the "Qué vs. Cuál" issue, feel free to share your words of wisdom with me!

¡Gracias!

Answer 1

Here is a link to a post on our reference page about this. It's not that you can't use qué in front of ser, it's that it completely changes the meaning of the question.

I have actually already looked at the reference page. It does offer some good points, but it seems to me that it doesn't really cover all the rules. - djames01, Oct 4, 2011

Answer 2

I actually found a helpful link for this subject.

http://spanish.about.com/cs/grammar/a/que_vs_cual.htm

What do you think about the advise this website offers? Is this a website I should study further?

Also, my comment box is not loading properly, so I could not fix the link. Sorry!

I linked your link. :) - pesta, Oct 4, 2011

Thank you! Thank you! :) - djames01, Oct 4, 2011

Answer 3

Nice question. I have been wondering the same thing.

Answer 4

¿Qué es eso? is a very common sentence in which qué comes before ser.

ood point! But check out the reference page that KevinB listed. It shows that typical uses for qué are sometimes incorrect. - djames01, Oct 4, 2011

*Good - djames01, Oct 4, 2011

Could you explain exactly why this is a correct statement? ¡Gracias! - djames01, Oct 4, 2011

Answer 5

"Qué" is never used before the verb "Ser"

Nonsense. See Lorenzo's response for a counter-example.

Answer 6

¿Qué será? será

What ever will be, will be.

Answer 7

Could you explain exactly why this is a correct statement? ¡Gracias!

It's actually a question rather than a statement.

It is correct because the question is basically asking for a definition, although from the point of view of English it isn't--the question is asking for the definition of what "this" is, rather than the definition of the word "this". There are many other examples that follow this pattern.

Oops! You are right, it is a question! :) And thank you for your explanation! It is very helpful! - djames01, Oct 4, 2011