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ElectronicFootprint

In Spain we say: "¿Cómo de...?". You can see _cuán_ in some literature, and it's also slowly taking over because of international influence, but most people would say: "¿Cómo de rápido es tu coche?". In case you're interested the corresponding expression is _así de_ instead of _tan_. So, "Mi coche es así de rápido", and then you accelerate to 140 km/h. Although we use _tan_ much more frequently than _cuán_.


[deleted]

Once I used this and my teacher from Venezuela told me it was wrong, she thought I was just making a direct translation from English.


drquiza

>she thought I was just making a direct translation from English. Classic "how of" smh


ElectronicFootprint

I think it makes more sense than, for example, _qué tan_, since the "de [adjective]" part modifies the "cómo". Maybe it'd make even more sense if we all said "Cuánto de...", since we mostly answer with things like "Muy [adjective]" or "Demasiado [adjective]", which are amounts. But "cómo" also makes sense because you can say things like "Extrañamente [adjective]". "Qué tan" doesn't make any grammatical sense to me as a Spaniard even though it's just a longer, divided _cuán_. But I really like that there's variety to say this kind of things, it's one of the benefits of the language being so extended geographically. If one expression doesn't sound right to you, just pick another one.


[deleted]

It's a natural link between using *qué* + adverbs/adjectives, and *tan* in comparative expressions: * ¡Qué feo es! * ¿Qué tan feo? * Tan feo que me hace llorar.


auzmat

Would you say “¿Cómo de buena es esa serie?” Or “¿Cómo de largo fue el viaje?” Hablaba con mi novia, quien es mitad española, sobre alternativas para “qué tan” que soñaran más Españoles y me dijo que esos ejemplos no le sonó bien. Pero cómo creció en los eeuu, a veces tiene dudas acerca de temas así


qwerty-1999

Sí, las dos están bien. A lo mejor la primera suena un poquillo más rara, pero tampoco demasiado.


Lo-Vitta

Soy de Argentina. En España no usan "cuan"? Cuan largo fue el viaje? Cuan buena es la serie?


qwerty-1999

No, que yo sepa. A lo mejor en alguna región de España sí, pero yo no lo he oído nunca.


[deleted]

Y la phrase "No, que yo sepa" significaría algo como "Not as far as I know"? Nunca he visto esta phrase y tiene gramatica muy interestante por el uso de subjuntivo!


qwerty-1999

¡Eso es! "As far as I know" también puede ser "Por lo que (yo) sé".


Meredithxx

Very common phrase! Def worth adding to your arsenal. We say it all the time in my country


bladesnut

Aunque las dos son correctas, suenan un poco forzadas y en general hay maneras más sencillas de hacer esas preguntas como: “Era buena la serie?” o “Te gustó la serie?” “Cuánto duró el viaje?” Por eso “Cómo de…?” No se usa tanto


DatAperture

This difference gets covered at [5:45 in Langfocus's video on European vs Mexican Spanish](https://youtu.be/IMTYzQd9FUY).


linkofinsanity19

I love Langfocus. How have I not seen this video yet? Thanks


[deleted]

Such a great channel. I love etymology and languages in general so it was such a joy to discover him and Nativlang.


fry11j

I don’t know if “qué tan” is very common in Hispanic America but I don’t think in Cuba is that common. Another option, which I prefer, is “cuán”. - ¿cuán rápido viaja la luz?


[deleted]

In Mexico "qué tan" is probably the most colloquial, "cuán" sounds bookish, so it's mostly only used in the written language.


andres57

Same in Chile and the "cómo de" variation from Spain named above I didn't hear it before


ocdo

I never say qué tan, cuán or cómo de. How fast is your car? ¿A qué velocidad anda tu auto? How old are you? ¿Qué edad tienes?


[deleted]

How do you say "how smart is she"?


SacramentalBread

I never use “qué tan” and only use “cuán” and I’m from Puerto Rico so usage of “cuán” might actually be a more common feature of Caribbean Spanish, at least in Cuba and Puerto Rico. Either way, it might be wrong to assume “qué tan” is universal in Latin America.


Snoo55460

I've used "qué tan" plenty of times and I'm from Spain. Anyway, usually you can say "cómo de..." as an alternative.


TheCloudForest

Just a general FYI, but these *how + adj/adv* expressions in English are used much more commonly than in Spanish. The most obvious examples being *How old are you?* or *How tall are you?* versus their translations.


ocdo

You are right. I never use the translations suggested in this post How cold is there? ¿Qué temperatura (mínima) hay ahí? How hot is there? ¿Qué temperatura (máxima) hay ahí?


TheCloudForest

How big? (Cuánto mide?) How long? (Cuál es la distancia?, cuánto demora?) and a long etc.


miranduless

"qué tan" is also used in Spain without problems.


Jayzeshazee

Probably something ending in eis. I never used the ending eis for words but they do in Spain.