How to Say "How Is" in Italian

Com'è

The Italian phrase for "how is" is Com'è.

Use Com'è to ask about the quality or state of a thing, but use Come sta to ask about the health or well-being of a person.

What does it mean word for word?

Com'è is a contraction of Come è, where come means "how" and è is the third-person singular of the verb essere (to be).

The phrase Come sta? is a common way to ask "how are you?" in formal Italian. The informal way to ask "how are you?" in Italian is come stai?

If you ask Com'è il tempo? about the weather, an Italian might answer Fa caldo or Fa freddo. Instead of saying the weather 'is' hot, they say it 'does' heat or 'does' cold.
In a moment of surprise or disbelief, an Italian might exclaim Come?! In this context, it functions as a one-word sentence meaning 'What?!' or 'How can that be?!'
While Com'è asks about a state, the word come is also used to express a comparison, similar to 'as' in English. For example, fai come me means 'do as I do'.

Com'è il tempo lì?
How is the weather there?
This example shows how to use Com'è to ask about the weather.
Tatoeba #757439 by Guybrush88, translation #50761 by CK
Com'è la sua casa?
How is her house?
This example shows how to use Com'è to ask about a house.
Tatoeba #11741198 by Guybrush88, translation #8200334 by josivangoncalves
Com'è la tua casa?
How is your house?
Tatoeba #11741199 by Guybrush88, translation #8200337 by josivangoncalves
Scusi, Come sta?
Excuse me, how are you?
Ciao, come stai?
Hi, how are you?
Ehi, come va la vita?
Hey, how is life going?
La vita va a gonfie vele!
Life is going great!
48 more sentences on Tatoeba

Sofia and Alessandro are talking about a new restaurant.

Sources

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