que
- (international standards)ISO 639-2 &ISO 639-3language code forQuechuan.
que (countable anduncountable,pluralques)
- (rare)The name of theLatin-script letterQ/q.Alternative form ofcue.
1820, John Borthwick Gilchrist,The Stranger's Infallible East-Indian Guide, London, page163:having lost their own pees andques, by some pitiful attempt in our alphabetical orchard
2011, Elgin Dobbins,Thirty Seconds to Midnight, page386:he was about to be interviewed by German television and he had to be on his pees andques.
- (US, informal, rare)Clipping ofbarbeque.
2009 December 25, Nick Cramer, “My "homemade" Italian meatball recipe - for Nick and Meir”, insoc.culture.jewish.moderated (Usenet):Then about 1950 two German brothers who had a meat market began cooking BBQ in their market to use up left over meat. One got the idea to smoke a brisket as he was smoking sausage one weekend. He left it all weekend in his smokehouse and on Monday as they were serving theirque, pork, sausage & chicken, he cut a slice[…]
2010 September 22, Nanzi, “Re: Yoy guys are killing this group”, inalt.food.barbecue (Usenet):Instead please join in the sharing ofque methods and recipes, or questions.
2011, Kathy Reichs,Spider Bones: A Novel,→ISBN, page57:The back route I favor involves a long stretch on Highway 74 and brings me close enough to Lumberton for a barbeque detour. That was my target today. Being already in Lumberton, it only made sense to score some “que.”
- (South Asia)Alternative form ofqueue
- cu(Somiedo, Armellada de Órbigo)
- cö(Cuarto de los Valles)
- qui(Cabrales)
FromLatinquid, usurping the roles ofquod.
que
- that,what,which
Inherited fromLatinquem.
que
- (relative)that,which
- (relative) that,who,whom
Inherited fromLatinquid, fromProto-Indo-European*kʷid, compare*kʷís.
que
- (relative)that
- (in comparisons)than
que
- how;used to indicate surprise, delight and such
Que bonic és viure!- How nice it is to live!
FromOld Galician-Portugueseque, fromLatinquid(“that”), fromProto-Indo-European*kʷid.
- IPA(key): /ke/
- Rhymes:-e
- Syllabification:que
que
- that(connecting noun clause)
2000, Domingo Frades Gaspar,Vamus a falal: Notas pâ coñocel y platical en nosa fala, Editora regional da Extremadura, Chapter 1: Lengua Española:I si “a patria do homi é sua lengua”, cumu idía Albert Camus, o que está claru éque a lengua está mui por encima de fronteiras, serras, rius i maris, de situaciós pulíticas i sociu-económicas, de lazus religiosus e inclusu familiaris.- And if “a man’s homeland is his language”, as Albert Camus said, what is clear isthat language is beyond borders, mountain ranges, rivers and seas, above political and socio-economic situations, of religious and even family ties.
- than(used in comparisons, to introduce the basis of comparison)
2000, Domingo Frades Gaspar,Vamus a falal: Notas pâ coñocel y platical en nosa fala, Editora regional da Extremadura, Chapter 2: Númerus:Cumu to é cuestión de proporciós, sin que sirva de argumentu por nun fel falta, poemus vel que en a misma Europa hai Estaus Soberarius con menus territoriuque os tres lugaris nossus, cumu:- As everything is a matter of proportions, without its presence being an argument, we can see that even in Europe there are Sovereign States with less territorythan our three places, such as:
que
- who,whom,which,that
- Valeš, Miroslav (2021)Diccionariu de A Fala: lagarteiru, mañegu, valverdeñu (web)[1], 2nd edition, Minde, Portugal: CIDLeS, published2022,→ISBN
Inherited fromLatinquid, usurping some of the roles of Latinquod.
que
- that(introduces a subordinate noun clause and connects it to its parent clause)
Je voisque tu parles bien français.- I seethat you speak French well.
2021, Zaz,Tout là-haut:Si on s’en allait tout là-haut, si on prenait de la hauteur, tu verraisque le monde est beau, beau.- If we went all the way up there, if we got higher, you would seethat the world is beautiful, beautiful.
- Substitutes for another, previously stated conjunction.
Si le temps est beau etque tout le monde est d’accord, nous mangerons en plein air.- If the weather is nice andif everyone likes the idea, we'll eat outside.
- when, no sooner
Il était à peine partiqu’elle a téléphoné à la police.- No sooner had he leftwhen she called the police.
- Links two noun phrases in apposition forming a clause without a (finite) verb, such that the complement acts as predicate.
1874,Barbey d'Aurevilly,‘Le Bonheur dans le crime’,Les Diaboliques:—Quelle grande bête, avec tout son esprit,que votre marquise, pour vous avoir dit pareille chose! — fit la duchesse […].- ‘What a beast your marquise is, for all her spirit, for having told you such a thing!’ said the duchess.
1918,Jean Giradoux,Simon le pathétique:Quelle belle fleurque la rose! dit-elle soudain, alors qu’aucune rose n’était en vue […].- ‘What a beautiful flower the rose is!’ she said suddenly, though no rose was in sight.
- Unlike its English counterpart,que (sense 1) cannot be omitted in Standard French.
Inherited fromLatinquam.
que
- introduces a comparison
- (comparisons of superiority or inferiority)than
Il est plus grandque son père.- He is tallerthan his father.
- (comparisons of equality)as
Elle est aussi intelligenteque toi.- She is as smartas you.
- (used withne)only,just;but,nothing but
- Synonym:seulement
Jene mangeque des fruits.- I eatnothing but fruit.
c.1656–1662, Blaise Pascal, “Dossier de travail - Fragment n° 19 / 35”, inPensées [Thoughts][2]:Nous souhaitons la vérité etne trouvons en nousqu’incertitude. Nous recherchons le bonheur etne trouvonsque misère et mort.- We hope for truth and find in ourselvesnothing but uncertainty. We search again for happiness and findonly misery and death.
- how (in rhetorical interjections)
Que c’est beau!- How beautiful it is!
Maisque t’es drôle, quoi.- Oh,how funny you are.
- Though it may look like a negative structure, the constructionne...que, is not a true negative. The partitive article is used after it and does not change intode as with other negatives.
- When usingne...que,ne precedes the verb andque normally precedes what it is restricting:
- Ilne mange les pâtesque le samedi ―He eats pastaonly on Saturday [not other days]
- Ilne mangeque les pâtes le samedi ―He eatsonly pasta on Saturday [and nothing else]
- Compare the positive and negative forms of the construction, both from the 2018 songFlou by the Belgian singer Angèle, noting the common informal omission of the particlene:
Tu t’ sens comme la reine du monde, mais c’estqu’une impression.- You feel like the queen of the world, but it'sonly a feeling.
Tu t’ sens un peu seul au monde ; c’estpas qu’une impression.- You feel a bit alone in the world; it'snot just a feeling.
Inherited fromLatinquid, fromProto-Indo-European*kʷid, compare*kʷís.Doublet ofquoi 'what', the tonic/emphasized counterpart, hence diphthongized.
que m(interrogative)
- (slightly formal, accusative)The inanimate direct-object interrogative pronoun.
Que pensez-vous de cette peinture ?- What do you think of that painting?
Qu’auriez-vous fait d’autre ?- What else would you have done?
2014, “Égo”, performed by Indila:Qu’a-t-on fait de la vérité ?- What have we done with the truth?
- (slightly formal, nominative)The inanimate subject or predicative interrogative pronoun.
- Qu’est-il arrivé ? ―What happened?
- Que me vaut cette visite ? ―Towhat do I owe this visit?
- Que sommes-nous ? ―What are we?
Inherited fromLatinquem.
que m orf
- (accusative, relative)The direct object relative pronoun.
C’est un hommeque je connais très bien.- He's a manwhom I know very well.
Je viens de lire la lettreque vous m’avez envoyée.- I've just read the letterthat you sent me.
FromOld Galician-Portugueseque, fromLatinquid.
que
- that
- than(used in comparisons, to introduce the basis of comparison)
- Synonym:que non
O inverno é mais fríoque o verán.- Winter is colderthan summer.
FromLatinquid.
que
- what;which (interrogative only)
- ¿Que camisa queres? ―Which shirt do you want?
que
- how;what (comparative)
- que lástima ―how sad
- used to express an adjective;how [mostly not translated]
- que feo ―¡[how] ugly!
- que alto ―¡[how] tall!
- que bonito ―¡[how] cool!
que
- what (interrogative only)
- ¿Que ves? ―What do you see?
- that,which
que
- that
Pra xogar, non vos fai faltaque vos den consello.- To play, It isn't necessarythat you give advice.
que f (pluralques)
- name of the letterq
- “que”, inDicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña:Royal Galician Academy,2012–2025
- Ernesto Xosé González Seoane,María Álvarez de la Granja,Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “que”, inDicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela:Instituto da Lingua Galega
- Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “que”, inDicionario 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”, inCorpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela:Instituto da Lingua Galega
Fromq (/kw/) +-e.
que (pluralque-i)
- The name of theLatin script letterQ/q.
FromPortugueseque, fromOld Galician-Portugueseque, fromLatinquid(“what”), fromProto-Indo-European*kʷid.
que
- that;which
1883, Hugo Schuchardt,Kreolische Studien, volume 3:[…], que da-cá su quiãoque ta pertencê a êll.- […] , to give him his sharewhich belongs to him.
que
- that
que
- what (interrogative)
- Que tu prefere? ―What do you prefer?
que
- Nonstandard spelling ofquē.
- Nonstandard spelling ofqué.
- Nonstandard spelling ofquè.
- Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the criticaltonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.
FromLatinquia.
que
- that
FromLatinquid.
que
- what
1488, Jean Dupré,Lancelot du Lac, page61:si en fut tant dolent qu'il ne sçavoitque dire- then he was so sad that he didn't know what to say
FromLatinquem, accusative ofquī.
que
- (relative)that,which
FromLatinquid, fromProto-Indo-European*kʷid, compare*kʷís.
que
- (relative)that
- (in comparisons)than
FromLatinquid,quis.
que
- (interrogative)what,who
- (indefinite) (that)which
que
- that
Old Galician-Portuguese
[edit]FromLatinquid(“what”), fromProto-Indo-European*kʷid.
que
- that (introduces a connecting clause)
FromLatinquid,quis.
que
- (interrogative)what,who
- (indefinite) (that)which
que
- that
FromOld Galician-Portugueseque, fromLatinquid(“what”) (usurping as well the roles of Latinquod), fromProto-Indo-European*kʷid, compare*kʷís. Cognate withEnglishwho.
que
- that(connecting noun clause)
- that(introducing the result of the main clause)
Está tão frioque os canos congelaram.- It is so coldthat the pipes froze
- than(used in comparisons, to introduce the basis of comparison)
O inverno é mais frioque o verão.- Winter is colderthan summer.
- (only in subordinate clauses)seeing as;since;for;because(introduces explanatory clause)
Espere um poucoque a chuva já vai parar.- Wait a little: for the rain is about to stop.
1878,Machado de Assis,O Machete (short story):Nas horas de lazer, tratava Inácio do querido instrumento e fazia vibrar todas as cordas do coração, derramando as suas harmonias interiores, e fazendo chorar a boa velha de melancolia e gosto,que ambos estes sentimentos lhe inspirava a música do filho.- In his times of leisure, Inácio took care of the loved instrument and made all heartstrings vibrate, outpouring his inner harmonies, and making the good old woman cry with melancholy and pleasure: for both these feelings the son’s music inspired in her.
- (only in subordinate clauses)and(indicating the consequences of an action, often threateningly)
Quebre as regrasque você será punido.- Break the rulesand you will be arrested.
- short forporque ("because")
Levantem os pés,que eu vou esfregar o chão.- Raise your feet,cause I am going to scrub the floor.
For quotations using this term, seeCitations:que.
que
- (interrogative)what(used to ask for a specification)
- Que livro é esse? ―What book is this?
- what a (preceding nouns)(indicates surprise, delight, or other strong feelings)
- Que jogador! ―What a player!
que (notcomparable)
- how (preceding adjectives)(indicates surprise, delight, or other strong feelings)
que
- (relative)which;that;who(of those mentioned)
Li uma notíciaque era muito desagradável.- I read newsthat was very unpleasant.
- (relative, colloquial)whose
1996, “Rap do Silva”, performed by MC Bob Rum:Era só mais umSilvaque a estrela não brilha- He was just another Silvawhose star doesn't shine
- (indefinite) what thing
- Synonym:o que
Inherited fromLatinquid(“what”), but usurping all the roles of Latinquod. Cognate withEnglishwho.
que
- that
Él diceque está triste.- He saysthat he is sad.
- than
Llego más tardeque tú.- I am arriving laterthan you.
- indicating a reason;because,for
¡Ve más lento,que es resbaloso!- Slow down, (for) it is slippery!
- indicating desire or permission;may(used with the subjunctive)
Que te vaya bien.- Good luck to you.
- (literally, “May it go well for you.”)
Que Dios me perdone.- May God forgive me.
que
- who;that
- Synonym:(Internet slang, text messaging)q
la estrellaque está en la película- the starwho is in the movie
- that;whom;which
la mujer conla que yo hablé- the woman withwhom I spoke
la casaque yo quiero- the housethat I want
que
- than
- like,as
que
- to
- q(Internet slang, text messaging)
FromProto-Vietic*k-vɛː; cognate withMuongque andTho [Cuối Chăm]kʰwɛː¹.
(classifiercái,cây) que• (𣠗,𢹾)
- smallstick
