¿cómo vas?
The English phrase "how are you going" is translated into Spanish as ¿cómo vas?
This phrase is an informal greeting used to ask someone how they are doing or how their life is progressing. You can respond to this greeting with Bien (fine) or Muy bien (very well). A common and natural way to reply is Bien, ¿y tú? (Good and you?). If you want to ask what someone has been doing lately, you can use ¿Qué has estado haciendo? (What have you been up to?).
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of the interrogative adverb cómo (how) and the second-person singular present indicative of the verb ir (to go).
Which one should you use?
While ¿cómo estás? focuses on a person's current state or feelings, ¿cómo vas? focuses more on the progress of their life or current activities. Another very common alternative is ¿cómo te va?, which uses the indirect object pronoun te to ask how things are going for the person.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
¿cómo vas? is an informal greeting and is more common among friends or acquaintances than in professional settings. It uses the tú form, which is the informal way to address someone in Spanish, rather than the usted form used for formal situations.
Did you know?
- If you respond to ¿cómo vas? with ahí voy, you are literally saying 'there I go', but it actually means 'I am getting by' or 'so-so'.
- The word cómo descends from the Latin cōmō̆, which was a non-literary version of quōmodo.
- Switching from the informal ¿cómo vas? to the formal ¿cómo va usted? can be a social signal used to distance yourself from a peer.
Examples in context
- ¿Cómo vas?How are you going?This sentence demonstrates the use of ¿cómo vas?Tatoeba #6601696 by arh, translation #1417902 by tien_oroniel
- Buenos días, Sr. González. ¿Cómo está usted?Good morning, Mr. González. How are you doing?
- Hola, ¿cómo vas?Hi, how are you doing?
Example conversation
Sofía and Javier meet at a cafe.
- SofíaHola Javier, ¿cómo vas?Hi Javier, how are you doing?
- JavierTodo bien, Sofía. ¿Y tú?Everything is good, Sofía. And you?
- SofíaMuy bien, gracias.Very well, thanks.
- JavierMe alegra escucharlo.I'm glad to hear it.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries cómo, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
