Asking about degree with qué tan
To ask about the degree or extent of a quality—like "how thick," "how sharp," or "how fast"—Latin American Spanish uses the phrase qué tan followed by an adjective or an adverb.
| How thick is that ice block? | ¿Qué tan grueso es ese bloque de hielo? |
| How sharp is that chisel? | ¿Qué tan afilado está ese cincel? |
When you use qué tan with an adjective, the adjective must still agree in gender and number with the noun it describes. Notice how cara (expensive) and opaca (opaque) are feminine to match the nouns they refer to:
| How expensive is the electric chainsaw? | ¿Qué tan cara es la motosierra eléctrica? |
| How opaque is that ice wall? | ¿Qué tan opaca es esa pared de hielo? |
When qué tan is followed by an adverb (a word that describes a verb, like rápido or lejos), the adverb does not change form, since adverbs do not have gender or number.
| That block is solid, but how fast does it melt? | Ese bloque es macizo, pero ¿qué tan rápido se derrite? |
| How far is the exhibition? | ¿Qué tan lejos está la exhibición? |
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