Learn to ask "How are you?"
Now Playing: Lesson Audio
Get a breakdown of the dialogue and translations instantly with the Premium line-by-line Audio. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
| INTRODUCTION |
| Becky: How are you? In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask how somebody is in Spanish. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Becky: Here’s the informal way to ask “How are you?” in Spanish. |
| Laura: [Normal] ¿Cómo estás? |
| Becky: First is a word meaning “how” |
| Laura: [Normal] cómo [Slow] cómo |
| Becky: Last is the word meaning “are you” |
| Laura: [Normal] estás [Slow] estás |
| Becky: Note the rising intonation. Listen again to the informal question meaning “How are you?” |
| Laura: [Slow] ¿Cómo estás? [Normal] ¿Cómo estás? |
| Becky: Now, imagine you’re speaking to a stranger. Here’s the formal way to ask, “How are you?” |
| Laura: [Normal] ¿Cómo está usted? |
| Becky: First is a word meaning “how” |
| Laura: [Normal] cómo [Slow] cómo |
| Becky: Next is the word meaning “are” |
| Laura: [Normal] está [Slow] está |
| Becky: Last is the word meaning “you”, in formal register. |
| Laura: [Normal] usted [Slow] usted |
| Becky: Note again the rising intonation. Listen again to the formal question meaning “How are you?” |
| Laura: [Slow] ¿Cómo está usted? [Normal] ¿Cómo está usted? |
| Becky: Here’s a response meaning “I’m fine. Thank you.” |
| Laura: [Normal] Estoy bien, gracias. |
| Becky: First is a word meaning “I am” |
| Laura: [Normal] estoy [Slow] estoy |
| Becky: Next is the word meaning “fine” |
| Laura: [Normal] bien [Slow] bien |
| Becky: Last is the word meaning “thanks” |
| Laura: [Normal] gracias [Slow] gracias |
| Becky: Listen again to the response, “I’m fine. Thank you.” |
| Laura: [Slow] Estoy bien, gracias. [Normal] Estoy bien, gracias. |
| Becky: Here’s a response meaning, “Not so well.” |
| Laura: [Normal] No tan bien. |
| Becky: First is a word meaning “not” |
| Laura: [Normal] no [Slow] no |
| Becky: Next is the word meaning “so” |
| Laura: [Normal] tan [Slow] tan |
| Becky: Last is the word meaning “well” |
| Laura: [Normal] bien [Slow] bien |
| Becky: Listen again to the response, “Not so well.” |
| Laura: [Slow] No tan bien. [Normal] No tan bien. |
| Cultural Insight |
| Becky: Now it’s time for a quick cultural insight. |
| Laura: You can also answer this question by saying okay, which implies the same thing as in English. And if you are not feeling so well, another common informal answer you can give is más o menos, meaning “more or less.” |
Outro |
| Becky: And that’s all for this lesson. Don’t forget to check out the lesson notes, and we’ll see you in the next lesson! |
| Laura: Hasta pronto. |
Comments
Hide