¿Qué tiene?

[caliber1]

I talk to my buddy Jesús in Spanish only, and I can pretty well understand most of what he says; however, the other day we took the company truck in to the mechanic and when I left the office to get into the truck he asked me, "¿qué tiene?" Literally that means, "what does it have (the truck)" right, but I guess it means more like "what's wrong with it or what problems does it have"?????

I hope I gave enough info to offer up advice. After that occasion, I have noticed it being said more so I would like to get a good grasp on when and where to use it. Thanks in advnace.

[chileno]

Originally Posted by caliber1

I talk to my buddy Jesús in Spanish only, and I can pretty well understand most of what he says; however, the other day we took the company truck in to the mechanic and when I left the office to get into the truck he asked me, "¿qué tiene?" Literally that means, "what does it have (the truck)" right, but I guess it means more like "what's wrong with it or what problems does it have"?????

I hope I gave enough info to offer up advice. After that occasion, I have noticed it being said more so I would like to get a good grasp on when and where to use it. Thanks in advnace.

Yes, you got it.

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

Originally Posted by caliber1

I hope I gave enough info to offer up advice. After that occasion, I have noticed it being said more so I would like to get a good grasp on when and where to use it. Thanks in advnace.

This meaning of tener is like "to suffer from", like in the case of having a disease. One can also ask "qué pasa (con)" / "qué le pasa (a)".


-¿Qué tienes? / ¿Qué te pasa? Estás muy pálida. (What happened to you? You look pale.)
-No sé, me siento mareada. (I don't know, I feel dizzy.)

-¿Qué tiene el niño? / ¿Qué le pasa al niño? No ha dejado de llorar. (What's wrong with the baby? He hasn't stopped crying.)
-Está enfermo. Hay que llevarlo al hospital. (He's ill, we have to take him to the hospital.)

-¿Qué tienes / qué te pasa, estás enojada? (What's wrong with you, are you mad?)
-No, no tengo nada. (No, there's nothing wrong with me.)

-¿Supieron qué tuvo el coche? / ¿Supieron qué le pasó al coche? (Did you know what was broken in the car?)
-Sí, se le acabó la batería. (Yes, the battery died.)

-¿Qué tiene la computadora? / ¿Qué le pasa a la computadora? Está muy lenta. (What's wrong with the computer? It's working very slow.)
-Se le metió un virus. (It has a virus.)

-¿Qué tienen tus papás? /¿Qué les pasa a tus papás? Se ven cansados. (What happened to your parents? They look tired.
-Se fueron anoche a una fiesta. (They went last night to a party.)