10 Responses to "How are you?" - SpanishPod101 (2024)

Hi, everyone, I'm Jasmine from SpanishPod101.com. In this video, we'll be talking about 10 responses to “how are you?” We're at the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles, California. Let's begin! 1. Estoy bien. "I'm fine." This is a common way to answer ¿Cómo estás? "How are you?" estoy means “I am,” and bien means “fine;” so it literally means "I'm fine." When someone asks you ¿Cómo estás? If you feel alright, you say estoy bien; you could also say, estoy muy bien, to give more emphasis, which means “very good” or “very well.” You can also add one extra word, gracias, meaning “thanks”, and estoy bien, gracias; it means “I’m fine, thank you.” 2. ¿Cómo estás? "How are you?" When someone asks you ¿Cómo estás? meaning "How are you?" You can use the same question to answer back. For example, you can say, estoy bien, ¿cómo estás? It means “I’m fine, how are you?” Cómo means “how” and estas means “are you.” This is the informal way to ask how are you, so use it in informal setting only. Using this word you can say, ¿Qué novedades? ¿Cómo estás? Which means "What's new? How are you?" 3. ¿Cómo está usted? "How are you? (formal)" This is the formal way to ask how are you. ¿Cómo está usted? Usted is the formal register, so if someone asks you ¿Cómo está usted? politely, make sure to answer that using this expression. For example, muy bien. ¿Cómo está usted? Meaning "I'm good. How are you?" 4. ¿Y usted? "And you?" If you don't want to repeat the question this is the best way to respond. For example, if you feel good, you can say, Yo estoy bien. ¿Y usted? it means “I’m well, and you, ma'am?” or “I’m well, and you, sir?” This has a formal register usted, so it's a form of expression. 5. más o menos "more or less" When you're not doing so good but just okay as usual, you use this expression, más o menos. It means “more or less.” People use this expression often in a daily conversation, too. For example, Sólo de vez en cuando, una vez al mes, más o menos. ¿Tú vas mucho? Means “only sometimes... once a month, more or less. Do you go a lot?" 6. muy bien "very good" Muy bien is the way to say “very well” and “I’m very well.” Using this word you can say, yo estoy muy bien, which means "I'm very well." If you're feeling really bad, however, you can use the opposite muy mal. Muy mal means “bad” so it often means “very bad.” But try to keep it short and positive during greetings. 7. gracias "thank you" Saying thank you or gracias is also a good way to respond to “how are you?” You can simply say gracias, which means “thank you,” or you can say muchas gracias to say “thank you very much.” 8. Tengo sueño. "I'm sleepy." When your friend asks you ¿Cómo estás? “How are you?” You can be honest and say “I’m sleepy,” tengo sueño. Using one of the expressions that we learned earlier, you can also say, más o menos, tengo sueño. This means “more or less. I'm sleepy." 9. Estoy muy bien. "I'm great." I use this often, estoy muy bien, "I'm great." In a sentence, you can say, estoy muy bien. ¿Cómo estás tú? to mean "I'm great. How are you?" 10. No tan bien. "Not so well." When you're not feeling well, you can use this. No is like English word “no,” and tan bien mean “so well.” So No tan bien means "Not so well." Using this word you can say, No tan bien, pero está bien. This means “not so well, but it's okay." Okay, that's about it to 10 responses to “how are you?” And if you really want to become fluent and speak Spanish from the very first lesson, go to SpanishPod101.com. I'll see you next time, hasta la próxima!