¿Cómo eres? How do you answer this question?

Question

One of the questions on my oral Spanish exam will be , ¿Cómo eres? . Is that asking me to describe myself .Soy Sandy? Soy baja, delgada y tengo el pelo castaño? Soy cientifica? What is this question asking for?

The next question is: ¿Cómo es el profesor de español?

Answer 1

Soy Sandy? .Soy baja, delgada y tengo el pelo castaño.? Soy cientifica? What is this question asking for?

That sounds like a proper answer to that question, although you could also say other things about yourself, like "Me gusta jugar al tenis", etc. While in English "How are you?" could be either "How are you feeling?" or "How are you as a person?", in Spanish this differentiation is unambiguous, because "estar" in "¿Cómo estás?" describes states, so it is how you find yourself, how do you feel, while "ser" in "¿Cómo estás?" provides a definition of how you are as a person. The question has only one possible interpretation if you remember that "ser" is used to define and clasiffy, so define or classify yourself in terms of how you are.

By the way, both in English and Spanish, you don't use periods right before or after a question mark.

Thanks, Lazarus! - sanlee, Dec 12, 2010

Answer 2

From my studies, ¿Cómo eres? Can be translated into english properly by saying, what are you like? Lazarus did a good job answering this one, I need not to say more. Thank you for the questions you ask, I learn from them también. I edited a typo. Oops : )

Thank you, Amor y Paz C - sanlee, Dec 12, 2010

Answer 3

Hi, Sanlee!

This kind of question is very flexible but, roughly, I suppose that your teacher wants to hear something like this:

(that's just an example)

¿Quién eres? Soy Sandy y tengo 39 años. Soy abogada, estoy casada y tengo 2 hijos.

¿De dónde eres? Soy de Chicago, pero vivo en New York

¿Cómo eres? Soy alta, delgada y tengo el pelo castaño y corto. Soy una persona tranquila, extrovertida y generosa con los demás aunque, a veces, soy un poco tímida.

¿Qué te gusta hacer? Me gusta estar con mi familia, el arte y estudiar español. También me gusta leer en mis ratos libres, el cine, las flores, conocer gente nueva .... cosas así.

¿Cómo es tu profesor de español? Es muy bueno. Sabe muchísimo y enseña muy bien. Es una persona agradable, educada e intenta sacar lo mejor de sus alumnos. Siempre nos da ánimos para que sigamos aprendiendo. Además, es muy guapo.

jeje - margaretbl, Dec 10, 2010

You are so helpful , Cogumela! Thank you so much! - sanlee, Dec 12, 2010

Very good answer, Cogumela! - Nicos31, Apr 8, 2012

Answer 4

I agree with the above responses and feel on a final exam the examiners are looking for who you are and what makes you "tick" so to speak. Good luck and I'm sure you will absolutely crush this exam!!!

Thanks, Jason! - sanlee, Dec 12, 2010

Answer 5

Sandy,the expression is asking you describe yourself as a person and implied in this is a request to include the following:

1 A description of your physical appearance: eg , colour of eyes, hair, height,
age (if you wish to include this) etc...

2 Where you were born and live now eg: I was born in Vancouver but now I live in New York.

3 Your interests/hobbies: eg I like swimming, photography and reading

4 Your personailty: eg: I am extrovert, friendly, kind and patient but can get bored easily

You can say similar things about your teacher but I would advise you to limit it to information about his/her physical appearance and personality.

This is intended only as a guideline, not a model answer (lol ) along with valuable advice from Lazarus, Cogumela and others

I hope this helps you, Sandy and May God go with you

Thank you, Feliz - sanlee, Dec 12, 2010