In Spanish the difference between Cua'l and Que'?

Question

When do you use Cua'l and when do you use Que'.

Please include some examples. Thanks.

Answer 1

which=Cual

what=Que

Answer 2

cuál = which

qué = that

Edit: Cuál is a bit of a tricky word. Technically, it means "what." But to a Spanish brain, it means "what" as in "which of these." So the better translation would be "which," even though it can also be used for "what." (We have that in Italian, too. The word "quale." It threw me off for years, until I understood what was going on.) So for example, "Cuál es su nombre?" actually means "Which numbers are yours?" not "What is your number?" Does that make more sense?

Edit: Oh, forget my explanation. GrahamH's is way better.

Answer 3

¿Qué? means "what?" and seeks a definition.

¿Cuál? means "which" and seeksidentification; the problem is that we generally use "what" in both senses in English, and the use of "which?" is fairly restricted in English.

Here are some examples: ¿Cuál es la capital de España? would elicit the reply"Madrid"

¿Qué es la capital de España? would elicit an explanation of what a capital city means - such as "a large city where the government of the country sits, etc"

Many Spanish speaking people sometimes mix the two, but far less than in English.

Answer 4

which= cual

what=que or that.

you can also use in spanish what like which so you can say " what’s your name "

Answer 5

Cuál = interrogative pronoun meaning WHICH

Qué= interrogative pronoun meaning WHAT

if you have to write them without being in an interrogative phrase, then you should take out the accent from them, so :

Qué....?= What....?

Cuál....?= Which....?

Answer 6

"Que" is used when asking for definitions:

Que es una ciudad?= What is a city?

Que hace un presidente?= What does the President do?

Cual is used before "es" and other forms of "ser" when not seeking a definition.

Cual es tu numero de telefono?= What is your phone number?

"Que" is closer to "What" in meaning and "Que" is closer to "Which"