In short – ‘qué hay’ is an informal expression that can often be translated to ‘what’s up’ in English. It can also be used to find out more about a previous statement AND as part of a longer question.
‘Qué hay’ is composed of two words:
‘Qué’ is an interrogative pronoun, which is basically a word used to form questions. Its equivalent in English is normally ‘what‘.
‘Hay’ is an impersonal form of the verb ‘haber’ (so you don´t have to worry about gender and number, yay!); it translates to ‘there is’ or ‘there are’ in English.
Got it?
Good! Let´s get into the nitty gritty!
Uses / Meanings of ‘Qué hay’ in Spanish
Qué hay’ can be used in following ways –
- As a greeting
- To find out more about a previous statement / question
- As the first part of a question
As a greeting
‘Qué hay’ is a very common informal greeting and is used in a similar way to ‘what´s up’ in English.
It´s a very casual expression and the response you get will often be rather short / non-existent.
After being immersed in Mexican Spanish for a while (or any variant of Spanish, for that matter), you´ll likely notice that there are LOADS of different ways to say, ‘what’s up’!
I´ve actually written an article on the 15 most popular, so be sure to check it out!
Saludando a un amigo
¡Qué hay, Daniel!
Todo bien, Renata, ¿tú qué tal?
Saying hi to a friend
What’s up, Daniel!
All good, Renata, how are you?
Enviando un mensaje
¡Qué hay, Julio! ¿Ya terminaste la tarea?
Hola, Mariana. No, todavía me falta un poco.
Sending a message
What’s up, Julio! Have you finished your homework?
Hi, Mariana. No, I’ve still got a bit left to do.
To find out more about a previous question / statement
‘¿Qué hay?’ is a common response to a statement / question; it´s normally used to find out more about what´s being asked.
It´s a common response to an invitation or request that´s not fully detailed.
Una madre a su hijo
Madre – Josué, ¿vas a comer?
Josué – ¿Qué hay?
Madre – Huevo con frijoles
Josué – No, ¡guácala!
A mother to her son
Mother – Josué, are you going to eat?
Josué – What is it?
Mother – Egg and beans
Josué – No, yuk!
Fernanda – ¿Quieres ir al cine?
Rodrigo – ¿Qué hay?
Fernanda – Top Gun.
Rodrigo – ¡Vamos!
Fernanda – Do you wanna go to the movies?
Rodrigo – What’s on?
Fernanda – Top Gun.
Rodrigo – Let’s go!
As the first part of a question
‘Qué hay’ is also used to form questions.
Here the use of question marks is necessary (well, duh … but don´t forget that we use TWO in Spanish)!
Luis – ¿Qué hay en la bodega?
Toni – Discos, juguetes y otras cosas de mi infancia.
Luis – What’s in the garage?
Toni – Some records, toys, and other stuff from my childhood.
Salvador – Además de la playa, ¿qué hay en Cancún?
Diego – Hay zonas arqueológicas, parques de atracciones y muchos antros.
Salvador – Besides the beach, what does Cancun have to offer?
Diego – There are archeological sites, theme parks, and a lot of nightclubs.
‘Qué hay’ pronunciation
This one´ll be rolling off your tongue in no time at all!
‘Qué’ is said like ‘keh’, and ‘hay‘ like ‘ay’.
/ keh ay /
‘Qué hay de nuevo’ meaning
‘Qué hay de nuevo’ can be used as either a greeting or a question.
This phrase was made famous by Bugs Bunny as ‘What’s up, Doc?’ was translated to ‘¿Qué hay de nuevo, viejo?’ on Spanish TV.
Perhaps a more accurate translation would be ‘What’s new?’.
Rafa – ¿Qué hay de nuevo?
Marlén – No mucho, mi abuela sigue internada en el hospital.
Rafa – What’s new?
Marlén – Not much, my grandmother´s still in the hospital.
Priscila – ¿Qué hay de nuevo, Dani?
Daniel – Hola, Priscila. Ya terminamos la primera parte de la exposición; necesitamos que nos ayudes con las ilustraciones.
Priscila – What’s new, Dani?
Daniel – Hi, Priscila. We´ve finished the first part of the presentation; we need you to help us with the illustrations.
Other similar expressions
Quiúbole
It might look like it´s from another planet, but ‘quiúbole’ is just another informal greeting in Mexican Spanish.
Be sure to check out our article on the various meanings of ‘quiúbole’ if you´d like to find out more!
¡Quiúbole, güey! ¿cómo estás?
Bien, carnal. Hace un rato que no te veía.
What´s up, dude! How are you?
I’m fine, bro. I haven’t seen you in a while.
¡Qué pasó!
Although it literally translates to ‘what happened’, ‘¡qué pasó!’ can also be used as an informal greeting.
Guess what? Yes, we´ve written an article on ‘qué pasó’ too!
Make sure you give it a quick once over (it´s a really useful phrase)!
¡Qué pasó! ¿cómo te fue con Alfredo?
¡Qué onda! Mal, no vuelvo a salir con él.
What´s up! How did it go with Alfredo?
What’s up! It didn´t go well, I’m not going out with him again.
Final thoughts
Although it’s a colloquial phrase, ´qué hay’ isn´t considered vulgar, so feel free to use it in a work environment.
It´s sure to come in handy on your next trip to Mexico … and if you don’t eat spicy food, don’t forget to ask ‘¿qué hay en la salsa?’ before drowning those tacos in salsa!
¡Hasta la próxima!