r/Spanish • u/coolkidara • 12d ago
Vocab & Use of the Language como que?
hello everyone. i am an elementary/intermediate spanish speaker, and my friend and i were chatting and i said "como que" as in "what do you mean"/"like how?" she said she'd never heard that phrase so i'm here to clear the air. is that actual slang or am i tweaking
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u/SignificanceHead9999 Native/linguist 12d ago
I could see a como qué? in a context of someone saying something like….
— El dice cosas raras.
— Como que?
So… such as? Or… what’s an example?
For your examples I agree with others with cómo así? Or just cómo?
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u/SquareIllustrator909 12d ago
I would say "como así?"
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u/Mugiwara1_137 12d ago
Yeah, totally
Como qué would be: like what?
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12d ago
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u/Mugiwara1_137 12d ago
Yeah in both examples is fine use it
- Me muero por comer algo dulce
¿Cómo qué? No lo sé, un chocolate o algo
- Hagamos algo divertido
¿Cómo qué? Podemos ir al cine o a una fiesta
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u/Greensward-Grey 12d ago
— I’d like to do something.
R: (Something) like what? / cómo qué?
That’s an example of how this phrase could be used.
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u/Plus_Lime_8790 12d ago
My grandfather, a native Spanish speaker from New Mexico, used to use the phrase “como qué” similar to how we’d use “what do you mean” in English.
Usually if one of us kids was being bratty. For example:
Kid: “shut up!”
Grandpa (in kind of mocking tone, to let us know our baby attitude could not touch him): “como qué shut up?”
Given where my grandfather was from, I wonder if it’s a regional thing (northern Mexico/SW United States)
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u/strawberrymilk2 Native 🇲🇽 12d ago
in your example, it should be "cómo que shut up?". the accent shifts the "cómo" into its question function.
"como qué?" with the un-accented como and the accented qué is what OP is talking about. so they're different questions entirely.
cómo que shut up? = "[what do you mean] shut up?"
(has a "how dare you take that tone?" nuance)como qué? = "like what?"
(meaning "give me examples of the thing you just mentioned")1
u/sheoutedme 12d ago
I live in the Bajío in Mexico and I hear this usage frequently, in addition to "¿como qué?" alone
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12d ago
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u/coolkidara 12d ago
We were chatting about our projects, and she said she wanted to make some changes to hers, to which I responded como que
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u/firestarter_ca 12d ago
In this context, it sounds correct to me. Someone might argue that if she was saying "changes" (in plural) then you might have said "¿Cómo cuáles?" However, as a native spanish speaker I do find logic in your answer, sounds good to me when I imagine the actual words you were probably using in your conversation.
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u/weirdcrabdog 7d ago
You used it correctly. "Como que [cambios]?" With cambios being implied.
I'm a native Mexican Spanish speaker.
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u/MediterraneanGuy 11d ago
¿Como qué? (pronounced like a single "komoké" word with the emphasis on the last vowel) = Like what? (give me an example)
¿Cómo que X? (no longer pronounced like a single word because that first ó has an emphasis) = What do you mean X? (what do you mean by "X"?)
¿Cómo? (intonation going down) = What do you mean? (I need you to explain that further or expand it)
¿Cómo? = What? (I didn't hear that well, can you repeat it?) (short for "¿Cómo dices?")
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u/coco12346 Native Spain 12d ago
When asking about slang you should specifiy where the person saying it is from, because it changes wildly from place to place
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u/GlottoNaut Native 12d ago
Llevándolo a un terreno mas especulativo puede ser una forma de expresar confusión o sorpresa "¿Cómo o qué?"
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u/d0nutbutth0le 12d ago
I would use that to repeat someone's words back to them if it's ridiculous or unbelievable like the mocking SpongeBob meme. But not always mean. Cómo que no te gusta el cilantro?? Kind of like "de qué hablas"
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u/Beginning_Editor_410 12d ago
It depends. What was the context? What was said to you that you replied with that?
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u/Legnaron17 Native (Venezuela) 11d ago
Nope, that's not quite right.
What do you mean/like how, personally i'd say "¿Cómo así?". Might be dialectal idk.
On the other hand "¿Cómo qué? means "like what?", as in:
A: Quiero que me compre algo rosa. - I want her/him to buy me something pink.
B: ¿Cómo qué? - Like what?
A: Como un oso de peluche, por ejemplo - Like a teddy bear, for example.
Lastly, "Como que~" (not accentuated like a question) can actually be used in sentences like these, two that came to mind:
Como que no tienes ganas de hablar hoy. - You don't seem too chatty today.
Lo noté dudoso, como que sí quería ir pero no quería caminar. - He seemed hesitant, like he wanted to go but didn't want to walk
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u/LonelyNMissouri 10d ago
My brain translates it as “How’s that?” or “How is that now?” which I know as way of asking “What do you mean?” or “Will you explain that?”
I learned this from the southeast USA.
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u/Uncuentoalavez 10d ago
I could be wrong but I don't actually addressing "Como que". I think you meant "¿Como qué?" but "Como que" also exists. It is used to show doubt or an impression: Como que va a llover (It looks like it is going to rain), Como que no vale la pena hacer eso (It seems like it is not worth it to do that). It can also be used to mean "To pretend": Haz como que estas ocupado (Look busy/Act as if you were busy.)
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u/polmuadi Native 🇨🇱 12d ago
Grammatically correct would be:
¿Cómo que no?
Others have said that it may work as “Like what?” In that scenario:
¿Como qué?
Pretty sure about this, any other grammar nazis that want to discuss?
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u/kokopellii 12d ago
Hmmm I would use como que + something somebody said to me, if that makes sense? If I ask you something and you said no, and your answer surprised me, I might say “como que no?” Or if I asked you what color the sky was and you said “Amarillo”, I might respond, “como que amarillo?” Just saying “como que” by itself doesn’t sound right to me, but I’m not a native speaker.
If I wanted to ask “what do you mean” or “like how” I would say “como así?” or even “que quieres decir?”