¿Quen tinemi?
The English phrase "how are you?" is translated into Nahuatl as ¿Quen tinemi?
¿Quen tinemi? is a common greeting used to ask someone about their current well-being.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase literally translates to "How are you living?", where quen means "how" and tinemi means "you live".
When do people say it?
A common response to this greeting is Cualli, tlazocamati, which means "Good, thank you".
Did you know?
- Because Nahuatl is an agglutinative language, the single word tinemi functions as a whole sentence containing both the subject 'you' and the verb 'live'.
- Because the verb tinemi implies residence, asking this question can sometimes carry the subtle nuance of asking how someone is 'settling in' or 'making themselves at home' in a specific location.
- The greeting ¿Quen tinemi? treats life as a continuous process of motion rather than a static state of being.
Examples in context
- ¿Quen tinemi?How are you?
- ¡Hola! ¿Quen tinemi?Hello! How are you?
Example conversation
Juan and Citlali meet on the street.
- JuanPialli Citlali, ¿quen tinemi?Hello Citlali, how are you?
- CitlaliCualli tinemi, ¿uan tinemi?I am well, how are you?
- JuanNehuatl cualli tinemi.I am doing well.
- CitlaliCualli, tlanequi!Good, then!
