espero que te sientas bien
/espeɾo ke te sjentas bjen/from spelling rules
The English phrase 'hope you feel well' is expressed in Spanish as espero que te sientas bien.
This phrase is used to express a wish for someone to recover from an illness or feel better. While espero que te sientas bien is a standard way to say this, it is often more common to use the word mejor (better) instead of bien (well) when a person is currently sick.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of espero (I hope), que (that), te sientas (you feel) and bien (well).
Which one should you use?
While espero que te sientas bien means 'I hope you feel well', you can use espero que te sientas mejor to say 'I hope you feel better'. For a shorter and very common alternative to express the same sentiment, you can say que te mejores, which means 'get well soon'.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Mexico, the phrase espero que te encuentres bien is used to mean 'I hope you find yourself well'. In Argentina, the colloquial expression espero que estés de diez is used to mean 'I hope you are feeling great'.
How does it change in a sentence?
The phrase uses the subjunctive mood, seen in the form sientas, because it expresses a wish or desire.
Did you know?
- While bien means 'well', the Argentine expression estés de diez literally means 'to be of ten'. It uses the number ten as a metaphor for a perfect score or peak health.
- The word que is a cognate of the English word 'who', as both descend from the Proto-Indo-European root *kʷís.
- If you use the common alternative que te mejores, you are technically speaking a 'performative' sentence where the 'I hope' part is grammatically implied and completely omitted.
Examples in context
- Espero que te sientas bien después de descansar.I hope you feel well after resting.
Example conversation
Mateo is visiting María while she is sick.
- MateoHola María, traje algunas frutas para ti.Hello María, I brought some fruit for you.
- MaríaMuchas gracias, Mateo. Me duele mucho la cabeza.Thank you very much, Mateo. My head hurts a lot.
- MateoLo siento mucho, espero que te sientas bien pronto.I am very sorry, I hope you feel well soon.
- MaríaGracias por venir a visitarme.Thank you for coming to visit me.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries bien, que, te, CC BY-SA 4.0.
