Spanish · Chapter 7 · Lesson 17 · Grammar primer
Question words
qué, quién, cuándo, por qué, cómo, cuál, cuánto, dónde - and the word order rule that comes with each.
The short version
Cuál es tu nombre, not qué
Qué asks for a definition or a category; cuál asks you to pick one out of a set. That is why 'what is your name?' comes out as cuál, even though English reaches for 'what': you are being asked to identify which name is yours. Before a noun, though, qué usually wins, as in qué libro prefieres.
¿Cuál es tu nombre?
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