Say ¿Cómo estás?, which is pronounced "KOE-moe eh-STAHS." The letters in capitals are the accented syllables that should be emphasized more. This is the most common and most familiar way to ask someone "How are you?"
Use "¿Cómo está usted?" when addressing a person that you don't know or someone of high respect such as a teacher, a priest, a judge or an elder. By taking the "s" off, the question becomes geared toward people of respect. This is because, unlike English, the Spanish language has a verb conjugation to demonstrate respect.
Include "¿cómo estás?" in your greeting to another person. In English, if you are asking someone how they are while greeting them, the normal way of doing this is to say, "Hello, how are you?" In Spanish this greeting is "Hola. ¿Cómo estás?" "Hola" means "hello." Note that the "h" is silent, so the word sounds like "oh-la."
