How do you say How are you?
How do you say "How are you?" in Spanish. If anyone knows, please tell me. I just started and I don't really know anything yet. 
12 Answers
Hi and welcome to the forum.
¿Cómo está usted? (formal)
¿Cómo estás? (informal)
Also, in some places "como vai?" - closer to "how y'doing" ("how are you doing" for anyone even older than me) but an alternative
The foregoing is okay if you are just asking generally, ie out of politeness, however, if you already know the person has been unwell and might want to ask specifically you could say,
¿cómo sigues de tus enfermedades? probably best translated as "how are you getting on?
Eri-Chan said
¿Cómo estas? --> to your friends or someone who you know very well. ¿Cómo esta? --> to someone who you don't really know -->usted form
¿Cómo estas? is more for friends. Even if you know your school principal very well, or your teacher, you wouldn't say to them, "Yo, dude, what's up?" You would say, "Hello, how are you doing today, sir?" and also the usted form is Cómo está usted.
Samdie thank you for your correction I do know how to speak Spanish well but not fluently yet . I have never encountered any native Spanish speaker who was not able to understand me when I asked ¿Qué tal?
I appreciate that you are keen to ensure that people learn to speak Spanish correctly but it would also be appreciated if you could be more gentle with people when you consider that we make mistakes... we simply have not reached your level of perfection yet Thank you
Key: Pron=pronounciation
The most common ways to ask someone how they are... include:
¿Qué tal? (pron: kay tarl ) = How are... you doing / things going? - very informal used between friends ¿Cómo te cuentas? (pron komo -tay -kwentas ) = How is it going? - very informal used between friends ¿Cómo estás? (pron: Komo -es- tass) = How are You? familiar form (tú) - used between friends
¿Cómo está (Ud) ?(pron: como es-tar) = How are You? - formal - used to show respect when addressing older people, strangers and people in authority.
Even if you know your school principal very well, or your teacher, you wouldn't say to them, "Yo, dude, what's up?"
Poor parallel. your "Yo, dude, ..." is not merely informal it is generational/cultural/regional slang. "¿Cómo estás?" is simply informal (not slang). I have never said (nor do I ever expect to say) "Yo, dude, what's up?" (or, worse yet, "wassup") to anyone. I wouldn't say it to the members of my immediate family (with whom I usually employ "informal" speech).
"¿Cómo estás?" is, simply, informal. It is used throughout the Spanish speaking world (excepting, perhaps, where the voseo dominates) by people of all ages, levels of education and social status.
Hola, mí amigas! ...
¿cómo estás? ... to me or another bff ¿cómo estás usted? ... to another person... formally
Along the lines of what Eddy posted, you might also try
¿Qué tal te encuentras? - How are you (feeling)?
Hello and welcome. If you click on the Learn Spanish tab at the top of this page en select Spanish 1 you will find a video (1.1) where Paralee explains the answer to your question.
Hi syd, welcome to the forum
What a pretty cat! 
¿Cómo estas? --> to your friends or someone who you know very well. ¿Cómo esta? --> to someone who you don't really know -->usted form
