¿qué tal?
“¿qué tal?” — how's it going? in Spanish. Phrase, level A0, topic — greetings and goodbyes. Literally 'how is it?'. Lighter and shorter than ¿cómo estás? — it fits strangers and friends alike. In a live sentence: “¿Qué tal? Hace siglos que no te veo” — How's it going? I haven't seen you in ages. You can hear how it sounds right here. One of 10 words in the set “greetings and goodbyes” in the Spanish course.
In short
| Written in Spanish | ¿qué tal? |
| Translation | how's it going? |
| Part of speech | phrase |
| Level | A0 |
- ¿qué tal?how's it going?
Why it looks that way
Literally 'how is it?'. Lighter and shorter than ¿cómo estás? — it fits strangers and friends alike
A word with a story stays in memory longer than one learned as a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
In a live sentence
A single word almost never appears alone in conversation. A sentence shows where it fits and what stands next to it.
- ¿Qué tal? Hace siglos que no te veoHow's it going? I haven't seen you in ages
Nearby words: greetings and goodbyes
Every conversation starts here, and so does every first impression: say hello in the local language and you stop being a stranger in about a second.
- holahellothe h is silent: OH-lah
- buenos díasgood morningLiterally 'good days', in the plural: Spanish wishes you all of them at once. Said until midday
- buenas tardesgood afternoonFrom lunchtime until dark
- buenas nochesgood evening (good night)One phrase for arriving late in the evening and for leaving for the night — then it means good night
- adiósgoodbyeFrom 'a Dios' — 'to God': a farewell commending someone to God. For long partings; for 'see you soon' they say hasta luego
- hasta luegosee you laterIn Spain this is the everyday goodbye, said more often than adiós
- ¿cómo estás?how are you?Built on estar — to be in a state. It asks how you are right now, not how life is in general
- ¿cómo está?how are you? (formal)The usted twin of cómo estás: the -s drops, and the verb agrees with usted — literally 'your mercy' — not with the person in front of you
- chaobyeFrom Italian ciao, but in Spanish it's only for parting, never for greeting. Also spelled chau. Adiós is heavier; hasta luego is 'see you later'
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “greetings and goodbyes”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “how's it going?” in Spanish?
Literally 'how is it?'. Lighter and shorter than ¿cómo estás? — it fits strangers and friends alike
- How do you say “how are you?” in Spanish?
Built on estar — to be in a state. It asks how you are right now, not how life is in general
- How do you say “good evening (good night)” in Spanish?
One phrase for arriving late in the evening and for leaving for the night — then it means good night
- How do you say “hello” in Spanish?
Works at any hour of the day and with anyone — unlike the more specific buenos días
- How do you say “how are you? (formal)” in Spanish?
The usted twin of cómo estás: the -s drops, and the verb agrees with usted — literally 'your mercy' — not with the person in front of you
How not to forget this word
Reading a word and remembering it are different jobs. A day later, little survives of a single reading — and that is not bad memory, that is how memory works.
- This has been tested on foreign words too. The difference shows up most when you test yourself a few days later rather than straight away.checked many timesKim & Webb, 2022, Language Learning 72(2) · 48 experiments, 3,411 participants, 98 comparisons.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- An answer you worked out yourself sticks better than one handed to you.checked many timesBertsch et al., 2007, Memory & Cognition 35(2) · 86 studies, 445 comparisons, d = 0.40.
Frequently asked
How do you say “how's it going?” in Spanish?
«¿qué tal?» In a live sentence: “¿Qué tal? Hace siglos que no te veo” — How's it going? I haven't seen you in ages. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Phrase, level A0, from the set “greetings and goodbyes”.
Why does this word look the way it does?
Literally 'how is it?'. Lighter and shorter than ¿cómo estás? — it fits strangers and friends alike. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
Can I hear how it sounds?
Yes, right on this page: click the word and it will play. The sound works on any phone, and nothing needs to be installed.