De que color es la camisa? - What is "De" for?

Question

It looks like this sentence can be formed without the "De" so what is it for?

Answer 1

The sentence "¿De qué color es la camisa?" translates to "What color is the shirt?" Let's explore the role of "de" in this context.

"De" in Questions About Characteristics

1. "De qué" for Inquiring About Characteristics: When asking about specific characteristics or qualities of something, like color, material, size, etc., "de qué" is often used. It translates to "of what" or "what" in these contexts.
2. ¿De qué color es la camisa? Here, "de qué" is used to ask about the specific color of the shirt.
3. "De" Indicates Origin or Composition: In other contexts, "de" can indicate origin (from where something comes) or composition (what something is made of).
4. ¿De dónde eres? (Where are you from?) uses "de" to ask about origin.
5. La camisa es de algodón (The shirt is made of cotton) uses "de" to describe the material.

Necessity of "De" in "¿De qué color es...?"

In the specific question "¿De qué color es la camisa?", the "de" is part of the interrogative structure "¿De qué...?" which is used to inquire about characteristics or qualities. While you might see variations in how people ask about colors or other qualities, "¿De qué color es?" is a standard and grammatically correct way to ask.

You could also ask "¿Qué color es la camisa?" or "¿Qué color tiene la camisa?", and these would be understood, but "¿De qué color es?" is a common and idiomatic way to ask about the color of something.

In Summary



The "de" in "¿De qué color es la camisa?" is integral to the structure of the question when inquiring about specific qualities like color. It helps to specify that you're asking about a characteristic of the shirt, and it's a common way to form such questions in Spanish.

Answer 2

The word "de" is used because you are referring to an object (the shirt) not the color itself. But like you said often times you could omit the word "de" and the phrase would still make grammatical sense.