Using Cuál/cuáles = Which/what In Spanish (interrogative Pronouns)

Written by qualified Spanish expert Inma Sánchez BALast updated: 2026-01-1514 questionsReport a problem

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Using cuál/cuáles = which/what in Spanish (interrogative pronouns)Written by qualified Spanish expert Inma Sánchez BALast updated: 2026-01-1514 questionsTake the fastest path to fluent SpanishJoin now for free!

Learn how to say which/what in Spanish

The words cuál and cuáles are used to express which/which one/s in both direct and indirect interrogative sentences in Spanish.

Have a look at these direct questions:

- ¿Cuál es tu coche? - El blanco.- Which one is your car? - The white one.

- ¿Cuál es su casa? - La más alta.- Which one is her house? - The tallest.

En esta tienda hay flores bonitas, ¿cuáles prefieres?In this shop there are pretty flowers, which ones do you prefer?

De todos esos cuadros, ¿cuáles has pintado tú?Out of all those paintings, which ones did you paint?

See how in the examples above there are two forms: 

• cuál for singular nouns
• cuáles for plural nouns

There is no distinction between genders, just singular and plural.

Have a look at these indirect questions:

Dime cuál te gusta más.Tell me which one you like the most.

Ella quería saber cuáles eran mis intenciones.She wanted to know what my intentions were.

Debes preguntar al médico cuáles son los efectos secundarios de las pastillas.You must ask the doctor what are the side effects of the pills.

cuál and cuáles always have a written accent [´] and are not preceded by articles, as opposed to el cual/la cual/los cuales/las cuales which are relative pronouns. To learn about these see Que/ el cual/ la cual/ los cuales/ quien/ quienes = who, that, which (Spanish relative pronouns).

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Learn more about these related Spanish grammar topics

• Pronombre interrogativo y exclamativo
• Written accents in Spanish

Examples and resources

- ¿Cuál es tu coche? - El blanco.- Which one is your car? - The white one.- ¿Cuál es su casa? - La más alta.- Which one is her house? - The tallest.En esta tienda hay flores bonitas, ¿cuáles prefieres?In this shop there are pretty flowers, which ones do you prefer?Dime cuál te gusta más.Tell me which one you like the most.Ella quería saber cuáles eran mis intenciones.She wanted to know what my intentions were.Debes preguntar al médico cuáles son los efectos secundarios de las pastillas.You must ask the doctor what are the side effects of the pills.De todos esos cuadros, ¿cuáles has pintado tú?Out of all those paintings, which ones did you paint? Thinking...