"What are we doing to torture our students with today, Amy?"
Here is another one of those phrases that I just can't seem to get my head around: "¿Como qué...?"
"Con qué..." would make sense to me as would just ¿Cómo...?" But "¿Como qué...?" in this context? "Like what...?" It just doesn't seem to compute for me.
¿Como qué vamos a torturar a nuestros alumnos hoy, Amy?
Steven-W15
January 29, 2015
Dan-H24
January 29, 2015
When I read the headline I translated it as "Why are we going to torture our students today, Amy?"
ricardo-rich
January 29, 2015
Hola amigos,
I think perhaps it's just a matter of how they chose to translate it, bearing in mind that so often things can't be literal. Maybe think of it as " How is it that we are going to torture our students today, Amy?
Saludos,
Ricardo
Ava Dawn
January 29, 2015
This is when memorization works for me. If it sounds good and not so grammatically wrong, I'll take it.
Robert-C7
January 29, 2015
Well, I think "como qué" in this context means "how". So, I would translate this sentence to be "how are we going to torture our students today". There is probably some grammatical lesson somewhere (because I kindof remember reading it) about such usage. Adding the "qué" between "como" and "vamos" sounds right to me for some reason...maybe it just makes the sentence flow better. "Como vamos a torturar..." sounds too abrupt.
Steven-W15
January 29, 2015
!Bueno, de todas maneras ellos nos torturan! ;-)
I can live with "como qué" being "how is it". It's like "Con decirte que..." being "Let me tell you that..." These are formulas you just have to memorize as Aurora mentions.
ricardo-rich
January 29, 2015
Hola a todos,
I think Robert is right regarding the flow and sound, without the "qué," it just kinda sounds wrong. I do the same thing as Aurora, memorize things, accept that's how it's said, put it in my "Spanish Mind" and hope it stays there.
Saludos,
Ricardo
Ava Dawn
January 30, 2015
I talked to a couple of young Mexican girls at work about "Como que" and they seem to understand that it means "Like what". Their example is this "Like what are you saying" .
Maria from San Salvador said that for example, I am cooking my favorite dish. And someone will say, it's missing something and you answer " like what"
Estoy cocinando mi plato favorito y mi amiga dice que le falta algo, Yo le digo
Como que?
Steven-W15
January 30, 2015
That usage of "como qué" as "like what" I do get - that comes quite naturally. It's the other way it's used that is going to take some time for it to sound right for me. As a reflex, I would still say "Cómo vamos a...?"
How about this phrase then which just came to mind (lesson 16.6):
- ¿Cómo se va a Madrid?
"¿Como qué se va a Madrid?" would sound really odd to me.
Robert-C7
January 30, 2015
I think you either say "como qué ..." or "como se ..." but not both. The second construct uses the passive voice. Also, the 'se' helps the sentence flow better.
ricardo-rich
January 30, 2015
Hola a todos,
¡Estoy de acuerdo con lo que dijo Robert.
Saludos,
Ricardo
Steven-W15
January 31, 2015
Here's my last go around if you could then address these (taken off the web). All of these are different constructions using "como" without the "que":
- Oye Como Va (Santana)
- ¿Cómo va mi prestación?
- ¿Cómo está?
- Cómo crear una contraseña segura.
- ¿Cómo bloqueo o desbloqueo a un contacto?
- Cómo yo le doy.
Thanks, guys!
Dan-H24
January 31, 2015
-Oye Como Va: I think this translates as "here how it goes." For years I assumed this song originated with Carlos Santana, but when I began listening to Cuban music I learned it was first made famous by Tito Puente.
Ava Dawn
January 31, 2015
Listen how it goes
How did my presentation go?
How are you?
How to create a strong password
How to lock or unlock a contact/ How to block or unblock a contact
How to give
Nice. Thanks Steven.
ricardo-rich
January 31, 2015
Hola Steven,
I hope my comments did not imply that qué always follow como or cómo. Not so, and to reiterate, ¿Como qué vamos.....? just one of those things that sounds right to me but I can't say why it's used this way. Yes, ¿Como qué se va a Madrid? definitely sounds odd. I found an explanation of como qué on WordReference Forum that says it's an "adverbio interrogativo" with "qué", not "que". "
"Como que" is a conjunctive phrase. Whew! My head hurts! I'll post a question about this on the Learning Spanish Like Crazy Forum and perhaps that will yield an explanation.
Saludos,
Ricardo
Steven-W15
January 31, 2015
Many thanks, Ricardo. I'll look forward to your follow-up.
Steven-W15
February 1, 2015
- "Con frecuencia, como cuando había un terremoto o eclipse."
- "Frequently, like when there was an earthquake or eclipse."
This phrase brought to mind what Robert and Ricardo were saying above. Does it fall into the same category? You could say, "Frequently, when there was..." but it does sound a bit abrupt.
ricardo-rich
February 6, 2015
Hola Steven,
¡Por fin! Hay una respuesta del foro LSLC. I got a reply from Rodney, who is a moderator, and speaks at such a level that he is often mistaken for a native speaker. He said the qué threw him off as it did you, and a Mexican friend of his said he would omit it as well. To sum things up, this seems to be a matter of regional or personal usage. So, "Como vamos a tortuar.....?" or "Como qué vamos a tortuar....?"
Saludos,
Ricardo
Steven-W15
February 7, 2015
Excellent. Many thanks, Ricardo!