¿Cómo se llama ella?
/ˈkomo se ˈʝama ˈeʝa/word by word
The English phrase "what is her name?" is translated into Spanish as ¿Cómo se llama ella?
This question is used to ask for the name of a female person.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase literally translates to "How does she call herself?"
Which one should you use?
The form ¿Cómo se llama? without the pronoun ella can mean "What is his name?", "What is her name?" or "What is your (formal) name?" depending on the context.
How does it change in a sentence?
The pronoun ella is often omitted in natural speech because the verb conjugation llama already implies the third person singular.
How do you pronounce it?
/ˈkomo se ˈʝama ˈeʝa/
What mistakes should you avoid?
While ¿Cuál es su nombre? is grammatically correct, English speakers often use it as a direct translation, but ¿Cómo se llama? is much more common and natural in spoken Spanish.
Did you know?
- If you use the word llama in the singular, you might be talking about a flame or an animal, as the verb shares its spelling with the Spanish word for the Andean 'llama'.
- In many Spanish-speaking cultures, asking ¿Cómo se llama? is often preceded by a polite greeting or a comment about the person, as jumping straight to the name can feel too abrupt.
- The word ella comes from the Latin 'illa', which originally meant 'that' rather than 'she'.
Examples in context
- Mira esa chica, ¿cómo se llama ella?Look at that girl, what is her name?
Example conversation
Sofía and Daniel are looking at a photo of a coworker.
- Sofía¿Cómo se llama ella?What is her name?
- DanielSe llama María.Her name is María.
- SofíaEs nueva en la oficina.She is new in the office.
- DanielSí, empezó ayer.Yes, she started yesterday.
