How formal is the Spanish word cuán? When is it appropriate to use, and when does it seem out of place? How are sentences using cuán normally expressed in informal speech?
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+1 Nice question! I wanted to know that myself (shame on me Spanish is my native language :$)– CésarCommented Jan 10, 2012 at 14:45
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I personally like 'cuán', but indeed it sounds a little sophisticated here (Argentina).– leonbloyCommented Jan 12, 2012 at 19:20
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Cuán follows the same path as whom in English... in 20 years rom now nobody will use it.– pferorCommented Feb 21, 2012 at 19:08
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Cuán indicates a quantity of something, tangible or intangible.– dockeryZCommented Apr 17, 2015 at 13:55
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4 Answers
In Spain, cuán is rarely used in normal, informal speech, though I think it would generally be understood.
To express the same, you can use qué, or lo ... que:
¡Cuán rápidamente caminan las malas nuevas! = ¡Qué rápidamente caminan las malas nuevas!
No puedes imaginarte cuán desgraciado soy = No puedes imaginarte lo desgraciado que soy
In questions, in Spain, it is often replaced by cómo de:
¿Cuán grande es tu coche? = ¿Cómo de grande es tu coche?
But this usage is probably incorrect.
NOTE
Though the definition by RAE doesn't say anything about the use of cuan in questions, the DPD does:
Aunque no es frecuente, cuán puede aparecer también en enunciados interrogativos
UPDATE
As @Gorpik comments, and extracted from DPD (section 4.g):
qué tan(to). Locución adverbial equivalente, según los casos, a cuán(to) o a cómo de, que puede aparecer en oraciones interrogativas o exclamativas, tanto directas como indirectas. Era normal en el español medieval y clásico, y hoy pervive en amplias zonas de América
This also implies, in my opinion, that cómo de is also correct.
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I strongly disagree with using it as Cómo de. I think it is incorrect. Do you have a source for it? Or are you a native spanish speaker so it may be a regionalism? :) Thanks! Commented Jan 10, 2012 at 12:09
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1No, I don't have any sources. I have always heard it as cuán, but it may well be incorrect. I'll edit my answer.– MikMikCommented Jan 10, 2012 at 14:25
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Thank you! I am not sure it is incorrect. It only sounds very bad. :) Commented Jan 11, 2012 at 6:27
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Cuán, as in the example of the coche, could be replaced with "¿Qué tan grande..." Commented Jan 11, 2012 at 21:11
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1"Cuán grande es..." sounds unusual (too literary, almost poetic) but definitely correct to me. I am a native from Galicia, northwest Spain.– CesarGonCommented Feb 21, 2012 at 15:53
"Cuan" may be an unusual word for American-Spanish talkers but in Spain is quite common, at least in the "quantitative meaning" in questions. Other uses are not very very frequent and, usually, "cuan" is substituted by other structures (not by other words).
Cuan has two meanings that depend on the context, one of them is almost lost in the language.
1.- Cuan (in direct or indirect questions or in exclamations it should be written as "cuán"): Its meaning is "how much" or "how many" and it is a short form for "cuanto" (or "cuánto" in questions and exclamations). It is used when the word is just before an adjetive or and adverb ("cuan largo es", "cuan lejos vives") and never when you are making a comparison. It is very unusual to find it out of exclamations or interrogations but in old literature, and can be substituted by "todo lo".
Example: "Corro cuan rápido puedo"-->"Corro todo lo rápido que puedo"
In exclamations, it is usually substituted by "qué" so you will not find it except in literature, especially in poetry.
Example: ¡Cuán bello es el amor!-->¡Qué bello es el amor!
In questions, is more frequent, although is not the most frequently used form to ask the size of something. In Spain, it is very common to use "cómo de", and, in Latinoamérica, "qué tan".
Example: ¿Cuán largo es el vestido? --> ¿Cómo de largo es el vestido?//¿Qué tan largo es el vestido?
2.- Its second meaning is equivalent to "as" and introduces the second part of a comparison (as...as...). It is extremely rare, at least in Spain and in Mexico (I do not know other regions regionalisms), even in the literature. Almost always it is substituted by "como".
Example: Tan alto cuan feo--> Tan alto como feo.
I hope I have helped, although it has been quite a long time since you asked the question. I apologize for my English.
Cuan: http://buscon.rae.es/dpd/srv/search?id=XzArprp97D66gn05Kb
Cuán: http://buscon.rae.es/dpd/srv/search?id=qsi2cT7VVD6TqNJhJC
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+1 for the mentioning the tan(to) ... cuan structure Commented Apr 16, 2015 at 21:30
In questions, "cuán" is equivalent to "qué tan":
¿Cuán rápido estamos caminando? = ¿Qué tan rápido estamos caminando?
¿Cuán bueno es ese restaurante? = ¿Qué tan bueno es ese restaurante?
¿Cuán lejos está la biblioteca? = ¿Qué tan lejos está la biblioteca?
In exclamations, "cuán" is equivalent to "qué":
¡Cuán rápido estamos caminando! = ¡Qué rápido estamos caminando!
¡Cuán bueno es ese restaurante! = ¡Qué bueno es ese restaurante!
¡Cuán lejos está la biblioteca! = ¡Qué lejos está la biblioteca!
"Cómo de" is a regionalism. I think outside of Spain it sounds very bad. In general, if you can use "qué", this will be the preferred form in the informal and formal speech. "Cuán" is more common in writing, especially in literature. I think using "cuán" is not formal; it's just not usual. My hypothesis is educated people use "cuán" more frequently, but it isn't related to a formality issue.
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1In Spain qué tan sounds wrong :) As you say, here we use cómo de. Both expressions are correct, according to the DPD.– GorpikCommented Apr 17, 2015 at 8:46
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Correct spanish should never use the
¿qué tan..?it sounds as a "barbarism" adapted from english.– eduyayoCommented Jul 6, 2015 at 15:53 -
1@eduyayo: according to who?
qué tanis the only viable option in many places in latin america, in fact,cómo demight sound completely ungrammatical. There's nothing inherently wrong about the phrase. This SE aims to discuss how Spanish is used and not how it should be used according to some arbitrary standards.– clinchCommented Jul 6, 2015 at 17:57 -
Not the only viable. As for correct is cuánto. According to all spanish speakers in Spain.– eduyayoCommented Jul 6, 2015 at 17:59
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Spaniards only have a say within their own dialects. No one is forcing Spaniards to use
qué tan, why should they be able to force anything on others? Something likecuánto rápido estamos caminandosounds ungrammatical to my ears, it's not an alternative. If you wanna continue this discussion, feel free to join the chat so we don't flood this answer with comments.– clinchCommented Jul 6, 2015 at 18:06
Although this isn't really what you were asking about, maybe it's worth mentioning that it would be somewhat out of place to use cuán when you're in Mexico, where it is far more common to say qué tan. For example,
¿Qué tan lejos está el Zócalo?
or
¿Qué tan grande es?
