How to Say "What Are You Like?" in Spanish

¿cómo eres?

The English phrase "what are you like?" can be translated into Spanish as ¿cómo eres?

This question is used to ask someone to describe their personality or general character.

Which one should you use?

You should not use ¿cómo estás? to ask this question. The phrase ¿cómo estás? is used specifically to ask about a person's current mood or health.

Do not use ¿cómo estás? to ask about someone's personality. Use that phrase only to ask about their state of being or current mood.

The verb eres is actually a linguistic fossil. It is a surviving form of the Latin future tense, 'eris', which eventually replaced the original Latin present tense form 'es' in Spanish.
In many Spanish-speaking cultures, answering ¿cómo eres? with a single adjective can seem blunt. It is often more polite to provide a brief description to soften the character assessment.
When asking ¿cómo eres?, you are fundamentally asking about 'how' someone is, rather than 'what' they are. Using 'qué' instead would change the question to ask about a person's profession or identity.

Daniel and Sofía are getting to know each other on a first date.

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