Learn Spanish (Spain): ¿Qué te pasa, hijo?

¿Qué te pasa, hijo?

What's wrong, son?

Breakdown of ¿Qué te pasa, hijo?

el hijo

the son

¿qué te pasa?

what's wrong (with you)?

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Questions & Answers about ¿Qué te pasa, hijo?

Why does ¿Qué te pasa? mean "What's wrong?" when pasar usually means "to pass" or "to happen"?

In Spanish, when you want to ask someone "What's wrong?" or "What's the matter?", you literally ask "What is happening to you?". The verb pasar frequently means "to happen", and the pronoun te means "to you".

Is te the subject of the verb pasa here?

No, the subject is actually Qué (What). The verb pasa is conjugated in the "he/she/it" form to match "what". The pronoun te is an indirect object, showing who this unknown thing is happening to.

Why can't I just say ¿Qué es mal? to mean "What's wrong?"?

Because everyday English phrases like "What's wrong?" rarely translate word-for-word into Spanish. While mal means "bad" or "wrong", saying ¿Qué es mal? sounds highly unnatural, almost like asking "What is the concept of evil?". You should stick to the set phrase ¿Qué te pasa?.

Does the speaker have to be the person's parent because they say hijo?

Not necessarily! While hijo literally means "son", in Spain it is very commonly used as a general term of affection. Older adults often use it with younger people, much like "kid" or "child" in English.