¿qué tal?

[ˈke ˈt̪al]

/[ˈke ˈt̪al]/ intj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“¿qué tal?” is outside the top-ranked Spanish vocabulary, used as an interjection - the kind of word writers most often double-check.

Unranked
below top-frequency Spanish
9
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Se usa para saludar y preguntarle a otra persona acerca de cómo le está yendo o por novedades para contar.

Key facts for ¿qué tal?
PropertyValue
Headword¿qué tal?
LanguageSpanish
Part of speechInterjection
IPA[ˈke ˈt̪al]
Letters9
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “¿qué tal?” sits in Spanish frequency

¿qué tal? falls outside the top-100,000 ranked Spanish words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The Spanish entry for ¿qué tal? is 9 letters long, classified as an interjection, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈke ˈt̪al]. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Se usa para saludar y preguntarle a otra persona acerca de cómo le está yendo o por novedades para contar.".

¿qué tal? doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct Spanish form is ¿qué tal?, spelled ¿-Q-U-É- -T-A-L-?.

Definition

  1. 1
    Se usa para saludar y preguntarle a otra persona acerca de cómo le está yendo o por novedades para contar.

Synonyms

¿cómo te va?

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "¿qué tal?"?
"¿qué tal?" is spelled ¿-Q-U-É- -T-A-L-?. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈke ˈt̪al].
What does "¿qué tal?" mean?
As an interjection, "¿qué tal?" means: Se usa para saludar y preguntarle a otra persona acerca de cómo le está yendo o por novedades para contar.
How do you pronounce "¿qué tal?"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "¿qué tal?" is [ˈke ˈt̪al]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "¿qué tal?" come from?
"¿qué tal?" is a Spanish word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “¿qué tal?”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct Spanish spelling is ¿-Q-U-É- -T-A-L-? - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as [ˈke ˈt̪al] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Browse more Spanish words and confusable pairs in the same reference. Spanish words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list