The difference between Que Pasa and Que Paso

Question

I have been working around Mexicans for about 5 years now and as I understand it, when I say Que Pasa, the person answers me as if I am literally asking them "What is going on". They use Que Paso as a greeting to say "What's up" without it being a question. Is this right?

Welcome to the forum. Please put you gender and proficiency in English and Spanish in your profile. - Jubilado, May 21, 2016

¿Qué pasó? is a question. ¿Qué hubo? is another way of asking what's up, I think. Hopefully gringojrf will answer. - Jubilado, May 21, 2016

¿Qué tal? is another one that's structurally a question but seldom used as a question - more like Hello. - jtaniel, May 21, 2016

Thank you to Jubilado, Jtaniel and Daniela for the clarification. - smithvic, May 21, 2016

¿Qué tal? is used a lot in Puerto Rico. Very common for, "What's up?" - rac1, May 21, 2016

Thanks for the profile info. You get my vote! - Jubilado, May 22, 2016

Answer 1

Mexicans have a great slang vocabulary. ¿Qué pasa/paso? is not slang, but "¿Qué húbole?" and "Qué onda?" are slangy and popular.

Thanks for the info. I'll try that out. - smithvic, May 21, 2016

Yes, I've heard, "Qué onda?" a lot too. - rac1, May 21, 2016

Answer 2

¿Qué pasó is pasar in the past tense. So it means what happened? ¿Qué pasa? is in the present tense, so it means what is going on?