Questions & Answers about ¿Qué mesa compramos? ¿La de madera?
Why is it qué mesa and not cuál mesa to say "which table"?
In Spanish, when you place a noun directly after the question word to ask "which", you almost always use qué. You typically use cuál or cuáles when the noun is omitted or comes after the verb, as in ¿Cuál compramos? (Which one shall we buy?).
Why is the present tense verb compramos used to translate "shall we buy"?
The simple present tense is often used in Spanish to make suggestions, ask for instructions, or discuss immediate future plans. It sounds very natural here, similar to asking "Which table are we buying?" in English.
How does la de madera mean "the wooden one"? Where is the word for "one"?
Spanish does not translate the English placeholder word "one". Instead, you just use the definite article (la, because it refers back to the feminine noun mesa) followed directly by the description. So, la de madera literally means "the of wood", but it is the standard way to say "the wooden one".
Why use de madera instead of a single adjective for "wooden"?
Spanish rarely has specific adjectives for materials the way English does. Instead of a single word, you use the preposition de (of) followed by the noun for the material, like madera (wood), to describe what something is made of.