¿Eres nuevo?
The English phrase "are you new?" is translated into Spanish as ¿Eres nuevo?
How does it change in a sentence?
When addressing someone formally, the verb changes from eres to es. If the person you are addressing is female, you must change the adjective nuevo to nueva. To ask a group of people if they are new, use the plural form ¿Son nuevos?
Did you know?
- The word eres is actually a linguistic fossil from the Latin future tense. While it is used today to say 'you are', it originated from the Latin word eris, which actually meant 'you will be'.
- In Spanish, if you use the word nuevo to describe a person, you might accidentally imply they are 'brand new' like an object. To ask if someone is 'new' to a job or a place, it is often more natural to say ¿Eres nuevo por aquí? or ¿Eres nuevo en el trabajo?
- If you are asking a group of people if they are new, ¿Son nuevos? must use the masculine plural if the group contains at least one male, even if there are ten females and only one man.
Examples in context
- Hola, señor. ¿Es usted nuevo en la ciudad?Hello, sir. Are you new in town?
- Disculpe, señora. ¿Es usted nueva aquí en la oficina?Excuse me, ma'am. Are you new here in the office?
- Hola, ¿eres nueva en la escuela?Hi, are you new in school?
- Oye, ¿eres nuevo por aquí? No te he visto antes.Hey, are you new around here? I haven't seen you before.
- Sí, soy nuevo.Yes, I am new.
Example conversation
Two colleagues meet for the first time in the office hallway.
- DanielHola, soy Daniel. ¿Eres nuevo?Hi, I'm Daniel. Are you new?
- MaríaHola, Daniel. Sí, hoy es mi primer día.Hi, Daniel. Yes, today is my first day.
- DanielBienvenida a la empresa, María.Welcome to the company, María.
- MaríaMuchas gracias por el recibimiento.Thank you very much for the welcome.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries eres, nuevo, CC BY-SA 4.0.
