245. The interrogative adjectives
and pronouns are given below. They are subject to the same rules
of agreement as the relatives. Observe that they all have the accent
mark.
| ¿quién? ¿quiénes? |
|
who? |
| ¿cuál? ¿cuáles? |
which? |
| ¿qué? |
what? |
¿cúyo? ¿cúya?
¿cúyos? ¿cúyas? |
whose? |
¿cuánto, -a?
¿cuántos, -as? |
how much? how many? |
| |
¿Quién vino?
¿Quiénes vinieron? |
} |
Who came? |
| |
| ¿Cuáles de los libros
desea V.? |
|
Which (ones) of the books
do you wish? |
| ¿Cuál libro? |
What book? |
| ¿Cuál? |
Which one? |
| ¿Qué hombre es ése? |
What man is that? |
| ¿Qué casa vendió? |
What house did you sell? |
| ¿Cuál es la casa de
usted? |
Which (one) is your house? |
| ¿Cuánto dinero necesita? |
How much money do you need? |
| ¿Cuántas personas hay
aquí? |
How many people are there here? |
| ¿Cúya casa es ésta? |
Whose house is this? |
| ¿De quién es esta casa? |
Whose house is this? |
| ¿De qué sirve ése
hombre? |
Of what use is that man? |
246. Qué tal asks the quality or condition
of a person or thing:
| ¿Qué tal
está su padre? |
How is your father? |
| ¿Qué tal lo trataron? |
How did they treat you? |
| ¿Qué tal? |
How goes it? What about it? What did I tell
you? |
247. As an extension of the interrogative use,
qué and cuánto are
also used in exclamations.
a. Qué means ' what!' or ' how!'
| iQué bellas
ciudades! |
What beautiful cities! |
| iQué lindos ojos! |
What pretty eyes! |
| iQué bien me siento! |
How well I feel! |
| iCon qué gracia mueve
la cabeza! |
With what grace she moves
her head! |
1. Más, ' more,' or tan, '
so,' may precede a qualifying adjective for greater emphasis:
| iQué niña
tan linda! |
What a pretty child! |
| iQué hombre más
tonto! |
What a fool of a man! |
b. Cuánto means ' how!' ' how
much!' ' how many!'
| iCuánto
me alegro de verle! |
How glad I am to see you! |
| iCuántos pobres habrán
perecido! |
How many poor people must have perished! |
1. Before adverbs and before adjectives (used alone), cuánto
becomes cuán:
| iCuán fácilmente
se puede aprender! |
How easily it can be learned! |
| iCuán tonto eres! |
What a fool you are! |
248. Acabar de, and less commonly venir
de, are used idiomatically with the meaning ' to have just,'
etc. In the present tense the construction refers to past time.
| Acabo de llegar. |
I have just arrived. |
| Acababa de hablar. |
He had just spoken. |
| Vengo de verlo. |
I have just seen him. |
249. Ya no ver la(s)
hora(s) is used idiomatically
with the meaning ' to be very anxious,' with the hope of immediate
fulfillment of one's wishes.
Ya no ve la(s) hora(s)
de ver
a su hija. |
She is very anxious to see her
daughter. |
| Ya no veía la(s) hora(s) de
salir. |
He was very anxious to leave. |
a. The above construction should be distinguished carefully
from tener ganas (88 a)
which expresses inclination, desire, or willingness.
| El no tiene ganas
de ir a la ciudad, pero yo ya no veo las horas. |
He has no desire to go
to the city, but I am very anxious to. |
250. Ir, ' to go,' with an indirect object, is
used idiomatically with the meaning ' to fare,' ' get along,' etc.
| ¿Cómo le
va? |
How are you? |
| ¿Cómo le fué
con el maestro? |
How did you get along with
the teacher? |
| ¿Cómo te ha ido, hijo? |
How have you fared, child? |
| Nos fué muy mal. |
We fared badly. |
| No me fué tan bien. |
I did not get along so well. |
|
