Qué before a pronoun?

Question

My understanding is that, when asking "what" or "which", it is generally improper to use "cuál" before a noun and that "qué" should be used in that situation. What about a pronoun, particularly a reflexive pronoun? For example, if you were talking to your close friend about sports and asked, "Which one pleases you the most?". In Spanish this would be something like "¿Qué (or Quál) te gusta?" Would "quál" be used before the reflexive pronoun?

Good question, by the way! - --Mariana--, Jun 27, 2012

Answer 1

Hi, Kirk.

There is a little "edit" link below each post. You can edit your mistakes instead of making a new post.

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As for your question-- Que vs. Cual is complicated and you'll need to do some reading and practice.

You would use "Cuál" in your sentence because you're asking someone to make a choice in a group of options (see number 3 below)

Generally--

1) 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?

2) Cuál usually is used before "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 las ciudades más grandes? What are the biggest cities?

3) Cuál is used to suggest a selection or choice from among a group:

¿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?

Answer 2

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