"¿De qué color es tu carro?"

Translation: What color is your car?

[studencio]

Why do you need to precede "qué" with "De"? Would just "Qué" work?

[katiebdenver]

studencio, from my understanding, "De qué color es...?" is used to ask about the color of an object. It puts the focus on the object for which you want to know the color of. Whereas, "Qué color es... ?" is used to ask for the name of a color so if you are questioning whether the glasses are blue, green, or turquoise for example because you are unsure of how you would name the color. The focus of the latter (not using "de") is on the color itself and has nothing to do with the object the color is on. Hopefully my explanation hasn't just made you more confused!

[ScubaDi]

Garcias Cinco lingotes para ti.

[Scott31461]

I was wondering about that too. Thanks, Katie.

[pete2040]

So is "de que" only used for colors?

[ChromosomeWarden]

I second your question. I suppose it's more formal, but you'd be understood just fine without "De".

[VAw5QNUl]

Are "de qué" and "cual" both acceptable alternatives for asking the colour of a car

[TheMerryDrinker]

Yep, that’s my question too !

[mgbryant]

Is the literal " Of what color is your car ?

[Stevopowell]

Yes, but it sounds really archaic. It is how Shakespeare would ask your car's color. :-) "Good sir, of what color is thy car?" It is has been my observation that many Spanish grammatical structures correspond with Old English ways of speaking. For example, "A mi me gusta..." is like "As for me, I like..." This is okay in Theater class but it isn't how we speak in Modern English. However, understanding how Old English works has given me a better handle on Spanish phrases. Hope this helps.

[StuckinSan]

In case you should ever time travel, Stevopowell, and happen to meet a good Sir, you should know that the thou form is informal and could be taken as an insult. See the trial of Sir Walter Raleigh "I thou thee, thou traitor!" Thy is the genitive of thou.

[peppy.beats]

@StuckinSan, prompted the discovery of this well-written article :))

https://www.historyextra.com/period/stuart/sir-walter-ralegh-raleigh-elizabeth-i-james-vi-i-bye-main-plot-trial-winchester-was-he-guilty-treason-how-did-he-die-execution/

[Jannie548460]

What color does your car have? Why is that wrong?

[Stevopowell]

Car's don't have attributes in the possessive sense in English. Objects tend TO BE an attribute. "The car IS red, old, slow, junky, broken down, etc." You can use possessive when speaking of car parts but not attributes. "The car has a V6 engine," "The car has four doors" (alternatively, you can say the car is a four-door), "The car has an engine problem." So we wouldn't say "My car has red" or ask "What color does your car have?"

[MarionHorr]

It's understandable but not something a Brit would say.

[Dagmar482843]

Colour should have been accepted

[WojtekHmm]

"What is color of your car" Why is this wrong?

[LarsKvam]

Then you should place a "the" in front of color. "What is the color of your car?"

[tom893509]

Y is it not tus carro i thought tus was your and tu is you

[deepstructure]

Tú (with accent) = you (tú tienes una camisa?)
Tu (no accent) = your (tú tienes tu camisa?)
Tus (no accent) = your plural (tú tienes tus camisas?)

[ScoCoda]

gris