¿Cómo estás? or ¿qué tal?: two ways to ask how things are
Both phrases mean 'how are things', but they are built differently. ¿Cómo estás? uses the verb estar and asks about your state right now. You pick the ending for the person: ¿cómo estás? to a friend, ¿cómo está? to a stranger. For example: “Hola, ¿qué tal?” — Hi, how is it going?. A rule from the Spanish course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
Both phrases mean 'how are things', but they are built differently. ¿Cómo estás? uses the verb estar and asks about your state right now. You pick the ending for the person: ¿cómo estás? to a friend, ¿cómo está? to a stranger.
¿Qué tal? has no verb in it at all, so there is nothing to pick. It works for friend and stranger, for the shopkeeper and the neighbour, which is why Spain says it more often.
Qué tal can do one thing cómo estás cannot: you can hang a thing on it. ¿Qué tal el viaje?, ¿qué tal la familia? Both questions take the same answer: bien, gracias, ¿y tú?
Table
| ¿cómo estás? | ¿qué tal? | |
|---|---|---|
| make-up | the verb estar, the ending agrees with the person | no verb in the short form |
| formal you | ¿cómo está?, the -s drops | ¿qué tal? — the same; with a verb: ¿qué tal está usted? |
| what it asks about | the state right now | business in general, light and short |
| with whom | anyone — the person is picked: estás or está | anyone, nothing to pick |
| can attach a thing | no | ¿qué tal el viaje? |
| the answer | bien, gracias | bien, gracias |
By example
- Hola, ¿qué tal?Hi, how is it going?
- ¿Cómo estás hoy?How are you today?
- ¿Qué tal el viaje?How was the trip?
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
Cómo estás vs qué tal?
Both phrases mean 'how are things', but they are built differently. ¿Cómo estás? uses the verb estar and asks about your state right now. You pick the ending for the person: ¿cómo estás? to a friend, ¿cómo está? to a stranger.
What qué tal literally means?
¿Qué tal? has no verb in it at all, so there is nothing to pick. It works for friend and stranger, for the shopkeeper and the neighbour, which is why Spain says it more often.
How to ask how things are in Spanish?
Qué tal can do one thing cómo estás cannot: you can hang a thing on it. ¿Qué tal el viaje?, ¿qué tal la familia? Both questions take the same answer: bien, gracias, ¿y tú?
Qué tal or qué tal estás?
Qué tal can do one thing cómo estás cannot: you can hang a thing on it. ¿Qué tal el viaje?, ¿qué tal la familia? Both questions take the same answer: bien, gracias, ¿y tú?
What does it look like in an example sentence Spanish?
“Hola, ¿qué tal?” — Hi, how is it going?. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.