Why Qué and not Cuál?
"What color?" is translated into "¿Qué color?"
Why Qué and not Cuál?
4 Answers
¿De qué color es....? = What color is...?/What's the color of...?
¿De qué color es el vestido? What color is the dress?
¿De qué color es tu coche?What color is your car?
¿De qué color es la bandera de Japón? What color is Japan's flag?
Now let's see the difference between Qué and Cuál when we're talking about colors:
¿Cuál es tu color favorito? = ¿Qué color es tu favorito?
These sentences mean the same but the word order is different.
Which color is that? = What is that color? --- ¿Qué color es ese?=¿Cuál es ese color?
Evika's examples are great.
Here's some explanation of how "Cuál" and "Qué" work:
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 las 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?
Turoko asked:
Why Qué and not Cuál
You could use either, depending on the situation (see my other post).
Situation 1:
You have two dresses and you'd ask your friend, "¿Cuál es tu favorito?" because she is choosing from a limited group of items. Also, "cual" is followed by a form of the verb "ser."
Situation 2:
You ask your friend about her favorite color in general and say, "¿Qué color es tu favorito? We use "que" here because it's followed by a noun.
If you are asking , " which color is that ?" then it is "Cuál .'
But if you are asking , " what is that color"? then it is "qué".
But we need a native speaker , or one more qualified than me to verify this.
