¿Cuál es la respuesta?
What's the answer?
It's the key line of any quiz, the one you ask when everyone else already knows and you don't. Spanish asks with cuál here.
From Dr. House · Spanish audio
Spanish vocabularyA1 · Beginner
How to say "answer" in Spanish
la respuesta
nounfeminineplural: las respuestasverb: contestar
"Answer" in Spanish is la respuesta when it's a noun: ¿Cuál es la respuesta? For the verb "to answer", Spanish uses contestar or responder, and both mean the same thing.
Hear "respuesta" in real movie scenes
A question and a verdict, quiz style. Each video starts and stops on that line.
Buena respuesta.
Good answer.
The shortest praise you get in a quiz: you got it right, on to the next question. Buena takes the -a to match respuesta.
From Triunfos robados 3: Todo o Nada · Spanish audio
Answer as a noun and as a verb
One English word, a few Spanish ones.
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| la respuesta | the answer |
| contestar, responder | to answer |
| contestar una pregunta | to answer a question |
| contestar el teléfono | to answer the phone |
| la respuesta correcta | the right answer |
| sin respuesta | unanswered, with no reply |
Tip: An answering machine is el contestador, from the same verb as contestar.
Grammar: la respuesta, contestar
Four points for the noun and the verb.
A feminine noun
la respuesta, las respuestas. Adjectives match it: buena respuesta, las respuestas correctas.A regular -ar verb
contesto, contestas, contesta, contestamos, contestáis, contestan. Contesto en español. I answer in Spanish.Answering a person
The person gets a short pronoun before the verb: No me contesta. He doesn't answer me. ¿Le contestas tú?One glide in the middle
The ue in respuesta is a single syllable: rehs-PWEHS-tah. Avoid splitting it into four beats like re-spu-es-ta.Example sentences
Sentences from the Wordy Spanish course. Tap to listen.
No hay respuesta.
There's no answer.
Contestar es fácil.
Answering is easy.
Quiero enviar la respuesta.
I want to send the answer.
Contesta, por favor.
Answer, please.
Common mistakes
Mistakes learners make with this word, and how to fix them.
✗¿Qué es la respuesta?
✓¿Cuál es la respuesta?
When you ask for the one answer out of the possible ones, Spanish uses cuál.
✗Contesta me
✓Contéstame
In a command, the pronoun joins the end of the verb, and the stressed syllable gets an accent mark.
✗No contesta a mí
✓No me contesta
Use the short pronoun me in front of the verb.
Real conversation: a quiz from Mexico
A short dialog with a classmate and a magazine. Tap to listen.
Your classmate Elena walks over with a magazine. She found a quiz from Mexico and reads you the first question.
¡Mira! Un concurso de México.
Look! A quiz from Mexico.
¿Cuál es la respuesta?
What's the answer?
¿El café es una bebida o una moneda?
Is coffee a drink or a currency?
Your turn to answer
In the app you reply in Spanish for the last 2 lines.
Continue the conversation in WordyPractice: 3 quick exercises
Free, and you don't need an account.
1 of 3 · Watch and choose
What do you hear in the video?
The other 31 exercises on this topic are in the app.
How to remember it
Respuesta looks like response. Give a response and you've given una respuesta.
Questions about "answer" in Spanish
How do you say answer in Spanish?
The noun is la respuesta. The verb, to answer, is contestar or responder.
What's the difference between contestar and responder?
For questions, messages and calls they're interchangeable: contestar un mensaje, responder un mensaje.
How do you say "answer the phone" in Spanish?
Contestar el teléfono. In Spain people often pick up with ¿Sí? or ¿Dígame?, and in Mexico with ¿Bueno?
How do you say "answer me" in Spanish?
Contéstame, or Respóndeme. The pronoun goes on the end of the command.
