Spanish Phrase
¡Qué genial! ¿De qué hablaste?
Meaning
The speaker first exclaims that something is ‘awesome’ or ‘great’, then asks the listener what the conversation was about. It combines enthusiasm with curiosity about a past discussion.
When to use
Use this after hearing news, a story, or an event that impressed you, and you want to know the details of the conversation that just took place.
✦Grammar Breakdown
¡Quégenial!¿Dequéhablaste?
¡Qué (exclamatory)
¡Qué is used to express strong emotion (surprise, admiration) and is followed by an adjective or noun.
genial
genial means ‘great, brilliant’ and agrees in gender and number with the implied subject.
De qué + verb (question)
De qué introduces a question about the topic of something; it literally means ‘about what’.
hablaste (preterite)
hablaste is the 2nd‑person singular preterite of hablar, used for a completed action in the past.
Inversion & punctuation
Spanish questions require opening (¿) and closing (?) marks, and the verb often precedes the subject.
🗨In Conversation
¡Qué genial! ¿De qué hablaste?
How great! What did you talk about?
Hablé de la nueva exposición del museo de arte contemporáneo.
I talked about the new contemporary art museum exhibition.
✕Common Mistakes
¡Que genial! ¿De qué hablaste?
The interrogative/exclamatory word needs an accent: ¡Qué.
¡Qué genial! ¿De qué hablas?
The sentence refers to a past conversation, so the preterite hablaste is required, not the present hablas.
¡Qué genial! ¿De que hablaste?
In questions the interrogative pronoun takes an accent: qué.
¡Qué genial! ¿De qué hablaste
Spanish questions must have both opening and closing question marks.
↔Alternatives
¡Qué guay! ¿De qué hablaste?
How cool! What did you talk about?
¡Qué chido! ¿De qué trató la conversación?
How awesome! What was the conversation about?
¡Qué estupendo! ¿De qué hablaste?
How wonderful! What did you talk about?
Cultural Tip
¡Qué genial! is very common in Spain and conveys informal enthusiasm. In many Latin American countries speakers may prefer ¡Qué guay! (Spain) or ¡Qué chévere! / ¡Qué chido! (Mexico, Colombia). Keep the tone friendly and avoid using it in formal settings like business meetings.