(Venir) a cuento
Common in colloquial Spanish, the expressions a cuento de qué, a qué viene, and a qué are all used in the interrogative to ask what relationship there is between the current situation or topic of conversation and other events.
All of these expressions are somewhat rhetorical, often implying that there is no justification for what has happened.1
-¿A cuento de qué tanta alharaca? — What's all the fuss about?
-¿A qué viene todo esto? — What's all this in aid of? [Questioning the reason for the present situation]
-¿A qué tanto ruido? — What's all the noise about? / What's with all the noise? [Implying that there is no good reason for the noise]
-¿A santo de qué le dices nada? — Why (on earth) did you have to tell him anything? [Expressing disapproval]
The same construction can also be used in affirmative or negative sentences to talk about the connection between the current topic and other events.2
-Viene a cuento de lo que está pasando en Madrid — It has some bearing on what is going on in Madrid
-Eso no viene a cuento — That's irrelevant
→Eso no viene al caso
-Me insultó sin venir a cuento — He insulted me for absolutely no reason/ out of the blue
As discussed previously, the preposition a is often used instead of para to indicate the purpose of an action. It can be followed by either the infinitive, que and the subjunctive (like para que), or a noun or pronoun.
-¿A qué has venido? — What have you come for? / Why have you come?
-He venido a ayudarte — I've come to help you
-Fui al taller a que me arreglaran el coche — I went to the garage to get my car fixed
-No vengo a eso — I haven't come for that
En la Prensa
En 2016 se confirmó la tendencia de que el electorado no deja pasar oportunidad para un buen corte de mangas a las élites rectoras, poco importa a cuento de qué. ABC.es-Dec 25, 2016
Ni Rodrizontal ni yo entendemos muy bien a cuento de qué esta obsesión con la carta, y preguntamos TeleCinco.es-Dec 15, 2016
¿A qué viene esta inflación de lo genial en tiempos más bien mostrencos? Ni idea. Y no tengo ahora tiempo para pensarlo. El Mundo-Mar 9, 2017
Te preguntarás a qué viene el signo positivo frente a las resoluciones de 720p, 1080p y 2K respectivamente y todo se debe a la relación de aspecto del display. AS-Mar 27, 2017
In Español-Avanzado Articles
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-venir a cuento - significado-
