¿qué tal?

[ˈke ˈt̪al]

/[ˈke ˈt̪al]/ intj

The verdict

“¿qué tal?” is uncommon Spanish (outside the top frequency list), classed as an interjection. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency Spanish
9
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Se usa para saludar y preguntarle a otra persona acerca de cómo le está yendo o por novedades para contar.

Corpus desk

Index ES-que-tal · ¿qué tal? · Spanish

¿qué tal? · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "¿" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

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

Cola larga: rango de “¿qué tal?” en español

¿qué tal?está más allá de las 100.000 formas más frecuentes del español, en la cola de léxico especializado o poco usado donde la duda ortográfica aprieta.

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

Rare enough to double-check

¿qué tal? is uncommon Spanish outside the top frequency list, classed as aninterjection, transcribed [ˈke ˈt̪al]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list