|
|
How Are You ???
|
| Hola,
... |
Interesting
to note that the Spanish question involves "a
question word" (Cómo)
plus a verb form (estás). |
This
question really states "How are?" --- the "you"
is understood by the -ás
ending. |
| THIS
particular question is being asked on a familiar
basis. |
That
means that you know the person fairly well, ---
on a first name basis, as a friend, a family member,
your pet, ... |
...
basically anyone or anything that you're talking
to and you're really familiar with. |
|
| The
verb form estás
is the tú form
of the verb estar. |
|
It's
enough for now that you realize that tú
represents you
at a familiar level, and only as one person. |
When
you hear the question ¿Cómo
estás?, someone is asking about "how
you are." |
| The
most proper response would entail "Estoy
... " |
| Estoy
is the equivalent of the English "I
am (being) ..." |
In
other words, this response reflects the condition/shape
you find yourself in at the time. |
| Bien
is an adverb. It means "fine." |
| So,
... saying "Estoy bien."
= "I am fine." |
...
and of course, since someone is asking about your
health/condition, you might want to be gracious
and add "gracias." |
|
| Other
responses to this question ¿Cómo
estás? might be: |
|
español
|
English
|
|
|
|
así-así
|
so-so
|
|
confortable
|
comfortable
|
|
excelente
|
excellent
|
|
feliz
|
happy
|
|
infeliz
|
unhappy
|
|
|
|
If
you're unsure about how to pronounce these, go back to
the pronunciation
guides to figure out the sounds. |
These
vocabulary words are adjectives. They supply information
describing a noun, in this case yourself. |
| Also,
at this point, you are only seeing generic adjectives. |
| That
means that they apply to both male & female, masculine
& feminine nouns. |
In
summary, when someone asks you "¿Cómo
estás?," you respond with "Estoy
(adjective)." |
| And
remember, ... this is a familiar form. |
|
| If
you're an advanced student
at all, you can use the adjective
lists to practice this pattern. |
Be
sure to use the masculine singular
forms of adjectives if you are a male, and
the feminine singular forms
if you are a female. If you're schizophrenic or royalty,
use the plural forms. |
|
Starting Points in Language
Study:
Bet you're getting involved in learning
some of the Grammar
Terms here! Do you have a clue what a verb is ???
How about checking it out, if you don't!
The Intro2Verbs
Page can get you started in seeing what's going on
in sentences. That would be called "conjugation."
It might be confusing
at first, but after a bit of study you'll be able to tell
the difference between SER
& ESTAR,
the two Spanish verbs meaning "to
be." You are working with the verb
ESTAR
on this page, and you've already covered a little on SER
in learning how
to tell time. |
|
|
|
