Which one should you use?
While Como você está? is a general inquiry about someone's well-being, Como você está se sentindo? specifically focuses on their current physical or emotional sensation.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
Como você está se sentindo? is a standard and polite way to ask the question, making it suitable for both formal and informal settings. In more formal contexts, you can use Como o/a senhor(a) está se sentindo? In casual spoken Brazilian Portuguese, it is common to shorten está to tá, resulting in Como você tá se sentindo? to sound more natural and colloquial.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Brazil, people often use Como você está se sentindo? to emphasize the feeling-related aspect of the question. In Portugal, the formal phrase Como se sente? is used to ask how someone is feeling.
How does it change in a sentence?
In the phrase Como você está se sentindo?, the word sentindo is the gerund form of the verb sentir, which is used here to express an ongoing state or continuous action.
Did you know?
- The word você actually began as a highly respectful title meaning 'your mercy', derived from the Old Portuguese phrase vossa mercee.
- The word sentir can mean both 'to feel' a physical sensation and 'to miss' someone emotionally, depending on the context.
- While Como você está se sentindo? is a direct translation, Brazilians may simply say Tudo bem? to cover both physical health and emotional mood.
Example conversation
Mariana visits Rodrigo while he is recovering from a cold.
- MarianaOi, Rodrigo! Como você está se sentindo?Hi, Rodrigo! How are you feeling?
- RodrigoJá estou bem melhor, Mariana.I am much better already, Mariana.
- MarianaQue bom! Você ainda tem febre?That's good! Do you still have a fever?
- RodrigoNão, a febre já passou.No, the fever is gone.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries como, está, se, você, CC BY-SA 4.0.
