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¿Cuál es el problema?

¿Cuál es el problema?
What is the problem?
From Lesson 12:Question words (quién, cómo)·Spanish (Spain)

Questions & Answers about ¿Cuál es el problema?

Why does this sentence use Cuál instead of Qué for "What"?
In English, we ask "What is the problem?", but in Spanish, you use Cuál es to identify something specific out of all possible problems (closer to "Which is the problem?"). You generally only use Qué es to ask for a definition, like ¿Qué es un problema? (What is the definition of a problem?).
Why is it el problema and not la problema? Doesn't the -a ending make it feminine?
Most words ending in -a are feminine, but problema is a famous exception! It is masculine because it originally comes from Greek. Many Spanish words ending in -ma share this rule and are masculine, like el idioma (the language) and el sistema (the system).
If I want to ask "What are the problems?", how do I change Cuál?
Unlike Qué, the word Cuál has a plural form! If there are multiple problems, you change it to Cuáles. The whole sentence becomes ¿Cuáles son los problemas?.

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