Ch 1 · Lesson 4Spanish · Chapter 1 · Lesson 4 · Grammar primer
¿Cómo estás?: your first exchange
How are you, fine thanks, and you? What's your name, my name is... Learn each question with its answer, and meet and .
The short version
Learn the question and its answer as a pair
¿ ? Ana.
Why?Hide
¿ ? comes back as , , and ¿ ? as . Learn each question with its answer, so they arrive together when you need them. already means I call myself, so never add : Ana, not Ana.
Getting by
After hello comes the small exchange every first conversation runs on.
| Spanish | English | Literally |
|---|---|---|
¿ ? | how are you? | how are you? |
, . | fine, thanks | well, thanks |
¿ ? | and you? | and you? |
¿ ? | how's it going? | how are things? |
¿ ? | what's your name? | how do you call yourself? |
Pedro. | my name is Pedro | I call myself Pedro |
Learn the question and its answer as a pair, so they arrive together:
¿ ? , . ¿ ?- How are you? Fine, thanks. And you?¿ ? Ana.- What's your name? My name is Ana.
One register note, and only one. Spanish has a friendly you () and a polite one (). To an official or an elderly stranger the polite forms are safer; the tú and usted page has the full rules.
| Friendly (tú) | Polite (usted) | English |
|---|---|---|
¿ ? | ¿ ? | how are you? |
¿ ? | ¿ ? | what's your name? |
¿ ? | ¿ ? | and you? |
- ¿Qué tal?
- Hola
- Buenos días
- ¿Cómo está usted?
Do not let the choice stall you. A visibly foreign beginner is forgiven either way, and the forms are the ones your first conversations will use.
Going further: Greetings and the rest of the guide, when you want them. This lesson does not need them.
Practice
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10-question session
One question at a time, mixed across the exercises in this lesson. Miss one and it comes back round before the end.
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Lesson 4 of 17 in this chapter