Spanish Word of the Day Archive
Sunday June 24, 2007

tal, adjective:
how are things?

You probably already know ¿qué tal? as a conversational way of asking how someone is.

Hola, José, ¿qué tal? ¡Tanto tiempo sin verte!
Hi, Jose, how are things? I haven’t seen you for ages!

You can expand ¿qué tal? by adding te va:

¿Qué tal te va?
How are you doing or How’s it going?

You can also use ¿Qué tal te va ...? with a following preposition to ask how someone is getting on with something:

¿Qué tal te va con el nuevo coche?
How’s it going with the new car? or How are you getting on with the new car?

¿Qué tal le va a Juanito en el colegio?
How’s Juan getting on at school?

And to ask how is ...? or how was ...? something you often use ¿qué tal? and the relevant noun, without any verb:

¿Qué tal el vuelo?
How was your flight?

¿Qué tal el hotel?
How’s your hotel?

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Spanish Word of the Day ArchiveSunday June 24, 2007