¿Qué tiene?

[NiCACHiCA]

No estoy seguro si es correcto '¿Qué tiene?' o ¡Qué tiene!

I am pretty sure this is along the lines of "qué te pasa" ("what is your problem"). I just wanted to double check. And also, to ask how stern is the phrase "qué tiene" versus "qué te pasa" and is it a question or an exclamation?

[Rusty]

No estás segura.

Both are questions. Here are some examples of how I understand their usage.

¿Qué tiene?
= What do you have (illness)?
= What have you got?
= What's wrong (with you)?

¿Qué tiene?
= What is it that you've done?
= What's up? (questioning what you've done)

¿Qué te pasa?
= What's wrong?
= What's the matter?

¿Qué pasa?
= What's up?
= What's happening?
= How's it going?

[NiCACHiCA]

Thanks, Rusty, for the correction (Glad YOU know I'm a girl, even though I don't!! hehe)!

Thanks for the examples too. Is there any ranking of the phrases in politeness to sarcastic/rudeness? If I say "¿Qué tiene?" would someone find that more offensive than if I said "¿Qué te pasa?". I know I'm a Spanish student filled with (most likely silly) questions, but I just try to understand how my words are interpreted to others and how to interpret words that are said to me. So thanks for all your help!!

[Elaina]

¿Qué tiene? = What's wrong? (polite/Usted)

¿Qué tienes? = What's wrong? (familiar/tu)

Also, to mean ...

What you got? Of course, in a more familiar way.

[Rusty]

Elaina's comment was very good. Note the difference between formal usage (more polite) and informal usage.

If I come upon someone who looks sad or distressed, I use "¿Qué te pasa?" (¿Qué le pasa? is more formal).
If I perceive that someone is sick, I would use "¿Qué tienes?" (¿Qué tiene? is more formal) to ask what they've got.
If someone approaches me with a long face, I can ask "¿Qué tienes?" (¿Qué tiene? is more formal) to learn the reason (to find out what they've done).

These are three different circumstances, with three different questions (although the last two questions are identical, they'll be interpreted differently because of circumstance). I hope this makes sense. In English, we can do the same thing. If a person is sick, "Whatya got?" means "What disease do you have?" If the person has something in her hand, the same question isn't asking about a disease at all. If someone walks into your office with a forlorn look, "Whatya got?" means "What's the problem? (What have you done?)"

[chileno]

I would like to add, that it might be used in the following context:

Por qué has hecho esto?

¿(Y) que tiene?

Has anybody mentioned this aspect of "que tiene"?

[irmamar]

Originally Posted by chileno

I would like to add, that it might be used in the following context:

Por qué has hecho esto?

¿(Y) que tiene?

Has anybody mentioned this aspect of "que tiene"?

Not in Spain, surely we'd answer something like the following:

- ¿Por qué has hecho esto?
- ¿Pasa algo?

[chileno]

Originally Posted by irmamar

Not in Spain, surely we'd answer something like the following:

- ¿Por qué has hecho esto?
- ¿Pasa algo?

Both are used in Chile, and I guess is a short for ¿Y que tiene (de malo)? o ¿Pasa algo (malo)?

[Elaina]

True!

Y, ¿qué tiene? = ...........
-so what?
-What's wrong with that?