que

English Online Dictionary. What means que‎? What does que mean?

Translingual

Symbol

que

1. (international standards) ISO 639-2 & ISO 639-3 language code for Quechuan.

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkjuː/
• Rhymes: -uː
• Homophones: cue, Q, queue

Noun

que (countable and uncountable, plural ques)

1. (rare) The name of the Latin-script letter Q/q. Alternative form of cue.
2. (US, informal, rare) Clipping of barbeque.
3. (South Asia) Alternative form of queue

Anagrams

• equ-

Asturian

Alternative forms

• cu (Somiedo, Armellada de Órbigo)
• cö (Cuarto de los Valles)
• qui (Cabrales)

Etymology

From Latin quid, usurping the roles of quod.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ke/, [ke]

Pronoun

que

1. that, what, which

Related terms

• qué

Catalan

Pronunciation

• (Central) IPA^(key): /kə/
• (Valencia) IPA^(key): /ke/

Etymology 1

Inherited from Latin quem.

Pronoun

que

1. (relative) that, which
2. (relative) that, who, whom

Related terms

• què

Etymology 2

Inherited from Latin quid, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷid, compare *kʷis.

Conjunction

que

1. (relative) that
2. (in comparisons) than

Derived terms

Adverb

que

1. how; used to indicate surprise, delight and such

See also

• què

Further reading

• “que” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “que”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “que” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “que” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Fala

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese que, from Latin quid (“that”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷid.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ke/
• Rhymes: -e
• Syllabification: que

Conjunction

que

1. that (connecting noun clause)
2. than (used in comparisons, to introduce the basis of comparison)

Pronoun

que

1. who, whom, which, that

Derived terms

• o que

References

• Valeš, Miroslav (2021) Diccionariu de A Fala: lagarteiru, mañegu, valverdeñu (web)‎^[1], 2nd edition, Minde, Portugal: CIDLeS, published 2022, →ISBN

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kə/
• Rhymes: -ə

Etymology 1

Inherited from Latin quid, usurping some of the roles of Latin quod.

Conjunction

que

1. that (introduces a subordinate noun clause and connects it to its parent clause)
2. Substitutes for another, previously stated conjunction.

3. when, no sooner

4. Links two noun phrases in apposition forming a clause without a (finite) verb, such that the complement acts as predicate.

Usage notes

• Unlike its English counterpart, que (sense 1) cannot be omitted in Standard French.

Derived terms

• parce que
• que de
• bien que

Etymology 2

Inherited from Latin quam.

Conjunction

que

1. introduces a comparison
   1. (comparisons of superiority or inferiority) than

   2. (comparisons of equality) as

2. (used with ne) only, just; but, nothing but

   Synonym: seulement
3. how (in rhetorical interjections)

Usage notes

• Though it may look like a negative structure, the construction ne...que, is not a true negative. The partitive article is used after it and does not change into de as with other negatives.
  • When using ne...que, ne precedes the verb and que normally precedes what it is restricting:

  Il ne mange les pâtes que le samedi ― He eats pasta only on Saturday [not other days]

  Il ne mange que les pâtes le samedi ― He eats only pasta on Saturday [and nothing else]

  • Compare the positive and negative forms of the construction, both from the 2018 song Flou by the Belgian singer Angèle, noting the common informal omission of the particle ne:

Etymology 3

Inherited from Latin quid, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷid, compare *kʷis. Doublet of quoi 'what', the tonic/emphasized counterpart, hence diphthongized.

Pronoun

que m (interrogative)

1. (slightly formal, accusative) The inanimate direct-object interrogative pronoun.
2. (slightly formal, nominative) The inanimate subject or predicative interrogative pronoun.

   Qu’est-il arrivé ? ― What happened?

   Que me vaut cette visite ? ― To what do I owe this visit?

   Que sommes-nous ? ― What are we?

Synonyms

• (colloquial) qu’est-ce que (object); qu’est-ce qui (subject)

Etymology 4

Inherited from Latin quem.

Pronoun

que m or f

1. (accusative, relative) The direct object relative pronoun.

See also

• quoi

Further reading

• “que”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Galician

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɪ/
• Hyphenation: que

Etymology 1

From Old Galician-Portuguese que, from Latin quid.

Conjunction

que

1. that
2. than (used in comparisons, to introduce the basis of comparison)

   Synonym: que non

Etymology 2

From Latin quid.

Adjective

que

1. what; which (interrogative only)

   ¿Que camisa queres? ― Which shirt do you want?

Adverb

que

1. how; what (comparative)

   que lástima ― how sad

2. used to express an adjective; how [mostly not translated]

   que feo ― ¡[how] ugly!

   que alto ― ¡[how] tall!

   que bonito ― ¡[how] cool!

Pronoun

que

1. what (interrogative only)

   ¿Que ves? ― What do you see?

2. that, which

Etymology 3

Conjunction

que

1. that

Etymology 4

Noun

que f (plural ques)

1. name of the letter q

Further reading

• “que”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2024
• Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “que”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “que”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “que”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: ILG

Ido

Etymology

From q (/kw/) +‎ -e.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kwe/, /kwɛ/

Noun

que (plural que-i)

1. The name of the Latin script letter Q/q.

See also

• (Latin script letter names) litero; a, be, ce, che, de, e, fe, ge, he, i, je, ke, le, me, ne, o, pe, que, re, se, she, te, u, ve, we, xe, ye, ze ^{(Category: io:Latin letter names)}

Indo-Portuguese

Etymology

From Portuguese que, from Old Galician-Portuguese que, from Latin quid (“what”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷid.

Pronoun

que

1. that; which

Interlingua

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k(w)e/

Conjunction

que

1. that

Pronoun

que

1. what (interrogative)

   Que tu prefere? ― What do you prefer?

Derived terms

• perque
• proque
• quecunque, qualcunque, etc.

Mandarin

Romanization

que

1. Nonstandard spelling of quē.
2. Nonstandard spelling of qué.
3. Nonstandard spelling of què.

Usage notes

• Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

Middle French

Etymology 1

From Latin quia.

Conjunction

que

1. that

Etymology 2

From Latin quid.

Pronoun

que

1. what

Descendants

• French: que

Occitan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ke/

Etymology 1

From Latin quem, accusative of quī.

Pronoun

que

1. (relative) that, which

Related terms

• qué

Etymology 2

From Latin quid, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷid, compare *kʷis.

Conjunction

que

1. (relative) that
2. (in comparisons) than

Old French

Alternative forms

• ke

Etymology

From Latin quid, quis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kə/

Pronoun

que

1. (interrogative) what, who
2. (indefinite) (that) which

Conjunction

que

1. that

Derived terms

• kil

Descendants

• Middle French: que
  • French: que

Old Galician-Portuguese

Alternative forms

• q̃, q̇ (abbreviation, in manuscripts)

Etymology

From Latin quid (“what”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷid.

Conjunction

que

1. that (introduces a connecting clause)

Descendants

• Fala: que
• Galician: que
• Portuguese: que
  • Indo-Portuguese: que

Old Occitan

Etymology

From Latin quid, quis.

Pronoun

que

1. (interrogative) what, who
2. (indefinite) (that) which

Descendants

• Occitan: qué

Conjunction

que

1. that

Portuguese

Alternative forms

• q (abbreviation)
• q̃ (abbreviation, obsolete)

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese que, from Latin quid (“what”) (usurping as well the roles of Latin quod), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷid, compare *kʷis. Cognate with English who.

Pronunciation

• Homophones: qui (Brazil), quê (South Brazil)
• Hyphenation: que

Conjunction

que

2. that (connecting noun clause)
4. that (introducing the result of the main clause)

6. than (used in comparisons, to introduce the basis of comparison)

8. (only in subordinate clauses) seeing as; since; for; because (introduces explanatory clause)
10. (only in subordinate clauses) and (indicating the consequences of an action, often threateningly)

11. short for porque ("because")

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:que.

Synonyms

• (than): do que
• (because): por causa que, porque

Derived terms

Determiner

que

2. (interrogative) what (used to ask for a specification)

   Que livro é esse? ― What book is this?

4. what a (preceding nouns) (indicates surprise, delight, or other strong feelings)

   Que jogador! ― What a player!

Adverb

que (not comparable)

2. how (preceding adjectives) (indicates surprise, delight, or other strong feelings)

Pronoun

que

2. (relative) which; that; who (of those mentioned)

4. (relative, colloquial) whose
6. (indefinite) what thing

   Synonym: o que

Spanish

Etymology

Inherited from Latin quid (“what”), but usurping all the roles of Latin quod. Cognate with English who.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ke/ [ke]
• Rhymes: -e
• Syllabification: que
• Homophone: qué

Conjunction

que

1. that

2. than

3. indicating a reason; because, for

4. indicating desire or permission; may (used with the subjunctive)

Pronoun

que

1. who; that

   Synonym: (Internet slang, text messaging) q

2. that; whom; which

Preposition

que

1. than
2. like, as

Particle

que

1. to

Alternative forms

• q (Internet slang, text messaging)

Derived terms

Related terms

Further reading

• “que”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

Vietnamese

Etymology

From Proto-Vietic *k-vɛː; cognate with Muong que and Tho [Cuối Chăm] kʰwɛː¹.

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [kwɛ˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [kwɛ˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [wɛ˧˧]

Noun

(classifier cái, cây) que • (𣠗, 𢹾)

1. small stick