"How Are You?" in Spanish

Quick Answer

How are you? in Spanish can be—depending on whom you are addressing—¿Cómo estás?, ¿Cómo está?, ¿Cómo estáis?, or ¿Cómo están?. But those aren’t the only ways to say How are you? in Spanish. Read on to learn more!

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How Are You? in Spanish

Just how do you say How are you? in Spanish? There are several different ways to ask someone how they are in Spanish, depending on the formality of the situation. Let’s take a look.

Just the Basics

Spanish	Person	Number	Register
¿Cómo estás?	second	singular	informal
¿Cómo está?	second	singular	formal
¿Cómo estáis?	second	plural	informal (used in Spain)
¿Cómo están?	third	plural	formal and Informal

Here are two different contexts in which we could use How are you? in Spanish:

Formal How Are You? in Spanish

María has a doctor’s appointment this morning.

María:

Buenos días, Dra. Gómez. ¿Cómo está?

Good morning, Dr. Gómez. How are you?

Dra. Gómez:

Hola, María. Estoy bien, ¿y usted?

Hello, María. I’m fine, and you?

As you can see, María and Dr. Gómez use ¿Cómo está? and ¿Y usted?, addressing each other in a formal register.

Informal How Are You? in Spanish

Now let’s look at a different context. Martín is a teacher, and he's addressing his class on the first day of school.

Martín:

Buenos días, chicos. ¿Cómo están? ¿Qué tal las vacaciones?

Good morning, folks. How are you? How was your break?

In this case, Martín is using ¿Cómo están?, the informal plural, to address his students.

Ustedes vs. Vosotros

Note that in most of the Spanish-speaking world, ustedes is used as both the plural formal and plural informal pronoun. However, in Spain, vosotros is used as the plural informal pronoun, and ustedes is used as the plural formal pronoun. In Spain, Martín would have likely asked his class ¿Cómo estáis?

Tú for you—or was it usted? Figuring out which you to use, with whom, and in which situations can be tough. Read up on you in Spanish with this article!

Other Ways to Ask How Are You? in Spanish

There are many other ways to ask someone how they are in Spanish. Here are just a few examples:

Spanish	English	Register
¿Cómo andas?	How are you?	informal
¿Cómo le va?	How are you?	formal
¿Cómo lo llevas?	How are you doing?	informal
¿Cómo va?	How’s it going?	informal
¿Qué hay?	What’s up?	informal
¿Qué onda?	What’s up?	informal
¿Qué tal?	How’s it going?	informal

Has reading the words ¿Cómo va? got you humming Oye cómo va? Learn all about this legendary song with our article What Does "Oye Cómo Va" Mean in English?

How can we use these phrases in context? Let’s check out a brief exchange between Camilo and Fátima, two friends who haven’t seen each other for a few months.

Camilo:

¡Fátima! ¡Cuánto tiempo! ¿Qué hay? ¿Cómo lo llevas?

Fátima! It’s been ages! What’s up? How are you doing?

Fátima:

¡Camilo! ¡Hombre! Todo bien. ¿Y tú? ¿Qué tal? ¿Cómo está tu hija? ¿Cuánto tiempo tiene ya? ¿Seis meses?

Camilo! All’s good. And you? How’s it going? How’s your daughter? How old is she now? Six months?

How to Answer How Are You? in Spanish

Just like in English, there are a myriad of ways to answer the question How are you? in Spanish. Let’s check out some of the most basic, one-word answers to How are you? in Spanish.

Spanish	English
Excelente.	Excellent.
Muy bien.	Very good.
Todo bien.	Everything's good.
Bien.	Good.
Regular.	Okay.
Más o menos.	So-so.
Así así.	So-so.
No muy bien.	Not so good.
Mal.	Bad.

Learn more responses to ¿Cómo Estás? with this article!

So, cómo estás after reading this article? Are you feeling more confident about your Spanish skills? We hope so! Put what you’ve learned into practice, and we're sure you’ll be feeling excelente.

Ready to read more about other common Spanish phrases? Take a look at these articles and impress your Spanish conversation partners!