"CÓMO ERES" IN ENGLISH

Happy Friday everyone and welcome back to the Daily Vitamin. I hope your week has gone well.  

Over the past couple of days we have looked at questions to ask for descriptions using the phrases BE LIKE and LOOK LIKE. Today we are going to look at some common translation errors related to that last couple of Daily Vitamins.

¿CÓMO ERES? This question is often incorrectly translated literally as How are you? The correct translation uses the question word WHAT and the phrase BE LIKE.

Example 1:
Alan: I want to get to know you better. Louise. Tell me, what are you really like?
Louise: Oh, well, I suppose I'm quite outgoing (extrovertido). I'm very creative and expressive. I'm a little impatient, too.

Example 2:
A: What's your new flat like?
B: It's big and sunny.

¿CÓMO ESTÁS? or ¿QUÉ TAL ESTÁS? When we want to translate these questions, we use the English question How are you?

The general question is formed by HOW BE.

Example 3:
A: I made a cake. Tell me, how is it?
B: Mmmm, it's delicious! Can I have another piece?

Example 4:
A: How are you, Suzy?
B: Not bad, thanks. And you?
A: Fine, thanks.

As you can see, the main translation problem comes from translating ¿Cómo eres? You must be careful to use the question word What and the preposition like.

On Monday we will begin to look at adjective order.

If you have any questions about today's lesson, please post them on one of our social media sites (Facebook or Bluesky) and we will answer ASAP. You many also want to write your own sentence or dialogue with these phrases and post them to Facebook or Bluesky. Then we can give you feedback about your writing.  

Enjoy your weekend and we'll be back on Monday with more lessons!

All the best!