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¿De qué es esta mesa? Es de madera.

¿De qué es esta mesa? Es de madera.
What is this table made of? It is made of wood.
From Lesson 105:What is it made of? (de madera, redondo)·Spanish (Spain)

Questions & Answers about ¿De qué es esta mesa? Es de madera.

Why do we use es instead of está to talk about what a table is made of?
In Spanish, we use the verb ser (here as es) for the material an object is made of because it is considered a permanent characteristic. A wooden table will always be a wooden table!
The English translation includes 'made of', but I don't see a word for 'made' in the Spanish sentence. Is something missing?
Nothing is missing! While you could say ¿De qué está hecha esta mesa? (What is this table made of?), Spanish speakers usually just use ser + de to talk about materials. It literally translates to 'Of what is this table? It is of wood.'
Why does the question start with De?
In English, we often put prepositions at the end of a question ('What is this table made of?'). In Spanish, sentences can never end with a preposition. The de must go right before the question word qué, creating ¿De qué...? ('Of what...?').
Why is it esta mesa and not esto mesa or está mesa?
Esta is a demonstrative adjective meaning 'this', and it matches the feminine singular noun mesa. It has no accent mark. Be careful not to confuse it with está (with an accent), which is a form of the verb estar, or esto, which is only used when the object is unknown or abstract.

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