¿Cuál palabra significa kilometraje?

Here cuál means which. It introduces a question asking you to identify one item from a set.

So the structure is basically:

• ¿Cuál palabra...? = Which word...?

That said, in this exact sentence, most native speakers would usually prefer qué instead of cuál before palabra.

It is understandable, but it is not the most natural wording for most speakers.

More natural options are:

• ¿Qué palabra significa kilometraje?
• ¿Cuál de estas palabras significa kilometraje? if you are choosing from a list
• ¿Cómo se dice mileage en español? if you are asking for the translation from English

A useful rule of thumb:

• qué + noun = usually what/which + noun
• cuál by itself = usually which one
• cuál de + plural noun = which of + noun

So ¿qué palabra...? sounds better than ¿cuál palabra...? in most everyday Spanish.

Significa is the third-person singular form of significar in the present tense.

It is singular because the subject is palabra, which is singular:

• palabra significa = word means

If the subject were plural, the verb would also be plural:

• ¿Qué palabras significan kilometraje? = What words mean mileage?

So the verb agrees with palabra.

Palabra is a feminine noun in Spanish: la palabra.

But cuál does not change for gender in the singular. It changes only for number:

• singular: cuál
• plural: cuáles

So you can have:

• ¿Cuál libro...?
• ¿Cuál palabra...?
• ¿Cuáles palabras...? (though qué palabras is usually more natural)

Even though palabra is feminine, cuál stays cuál.

It has a written accent because it is an interrogative word.

In Spanish, question words usually take an accent when they are used in direct or indirect questions:

• qué
• cuál
• cómo
• cuándo
• dónde
• quién

So in ¿Cuál palabra significa kilometraje?, the accent shows that cuál is being used as a question word.

Spanish uses two question marks for direct questions:

• opening mark: ¿
• closing mark: ?

So a complete written question should look like this:

• ¿Qué palabra significa kilometraje?

This is a standard feature of Spanish punctuation, not optional in careful writing.

Because kilometraje is being used as a general meaning or concept here, not as a specific thing with the.

Compare:

• significa kilometraje = means mileage
• significa el kilometraje would usually sound less natural here unless you mean a specific mileage already mentioned

In dictionary-style or vocabulary-style sentences, Spanish often leaves out the article when giving a meaning.

Significa is perfectly correct and clear. It sounds a little more dictionary-like or classroom-like.

In conversation, speakers might also say:

• ¿Qué quiere decir kilometraje? = What does kilometraje mean?
• ¿Qué palabra quiere decir kilometraje? = What word means kilometraje?
• ¿Cómo se dice mileage en español? = How do you say mileage in Spanish?

So significa is correct, but quiere decir often sounds a bit more natural in casual speech.

A simple pronunciation guide is:

ki-lo-me-TRA-he

A few details:

• kilo- sounds much like English kee-lo
• the stress is on -tra-
• the j in -traje is pronounced like a strong h sound in much of Latin America

So it is roughly:

kee-lo-meh-TRAH-heh

The exact sound of j can vary by region, but in Latin America it is often softer than in many varieties of Spain.

If you are selecting from a list, the most natural version is:

• ¿Cuál de estas palabras significa kilometraje?

This is a very common pattern:

• ¿Cuál de estas opciones...? = Which of these options...?
• ¿Cuál de estas palabras...? = Which of these words...?

So if there are visible answer choices, cuál de estas palabras is better than cuál palabra.