Which one should you use?
¿Cómo estuvo tu día? focuses on the day as a finished event. In contrast, ¿Cómo ha sido tu día? uses the present perfect to imply the day is still ongoing or very recently finished.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
Using su instead of tu, as in ¿Cómo estuvo su día?, makes the question formal and suitable for a boss, an elder or a stranger. For a formal way to ask "How did your day go?", you can use ¿Cómo le fue hoy? with the polite form usted or use the formal variation ¿Cómo ha sido su día? to ask "How has your day been?"
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Spain, the phrase ¿Qué tal tu día? is widely used in informal contexts.
How does it change in a sentence?
The phrase ¿Cómo estuvo tu día? uses the preterite tense (estuvo) to refer to the day as a completed period of time.
Did you know?
- The word día for 'day' is a distant relative of the English word 'Zeus' and the Latin 'Jupiter' through the ancient root for 'sky' or 'heaven'.
- While tu is used for friends, using su in ¿Cómo estuvo su día? can signal not just respect, but a deliberate emotional distance between the speakers.
- Depending on the country, using ¿Cómo te fue? instead of ¿Cómo estuvo tu día? shifts the focus from the quality of the day to the specific events that happened to the person.
Examples in context
- ¿Cómo estuvo tu día?How was your day?This example shows how to use ¿Cómo estuvo tu día?Tatoeba #1286349 by marcelostockle, translation #953356 by CK
- Dime, ¿cómo estuvo tu día?Tell me, how was your day?
Example conversation
Javier and Lucía meet at home in the evening.
- JavierHola, Lucía, ¿cómo estuvo tu día?Hello, Lucía, how was your day?
- LucíaFue muy largo y cansado.It was very long and tiring.
- JavierLo siento, ¿quieres cenar algo?I'm sorry, do you want to eat something?
- LucíaSí, por favor, Javier.Yes, please, Javier.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries cómo, día, tu, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.