We love talking about Spanish expression over right here at Sincerely, Spain. Some of the expressions might be a tiny bit difficult to put right into use (such together “me cago en...

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”) and also others like “¿qué tal…?” are ones that you will certainly hear in daily conversations. If you space interested in more Spanish expressions as they are offered in Spain, us recommend:

Now let’s obtain into what this expression means.


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ROUGH ENGLISH TRANSLATION: how is/was such…?

This is one of those expressions that doesn’t make feeling if you interpret it directly to English because the way sentences room constructed and also thought around is fairly different. ‘Qué,’ v the accent on the e, is a question word the is usually provided to average ‘what.’ In this case, in addition to ‘tal’ (an adverb that could be interpreted as ‘such’ or ‘it’) we find that we are absent a verb and also subject to finish the sentence.

That is why this expression is often part of a conversation wherein the verb and subject is taken by the paper definition or accompanied by an explanation.

HOW it IS USED:

When we hear “¿qué tal?” in daily conversations, what us are regularly hearing is a shortened version of “¿qué tal estás?” or “how are you?” This is a really common expression to usage for a range of various situations and is agree for as soon as you are meeting up through friends or just running right into someone you haven’t checked out for for bit in the street or talk to your regional shop owner. If you space in Spain for any period of time, friend will more than likely hear this expression used in this method multiple time a day.

This is no the only means to usage this expression, however, and you will also find the people add different subjects and also verbs to the finish of it together well. You can additionally use it to ask about how something, such as a trip, walk by saying “qué tal tu viaje?” (How was your trip?”) When used this way, the verb is regularly implicit in the sentence and, in spoken language, omitted for this reason the question becomes “¿qué tal tu viaje?” (Literally analyzed to: how your trip?)


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TWO instances IN CONTEXT

This expression is rather easy to use. Prefer we stated above, it deserve to be provided in really general cases for asking just how someone is. It can also be supplied for much more specific cases where you want feedback native someone. Because that example, if you out with a friend and he acquired a piece of cake and also you space debating having actually one, the conversation might go follow me the lines of:

You: No sé si quiero un trozo de bizcocho. ¿Qué tal el tuyo? (I don’t understand if I want a slice of cake. Exactly how is yours?)

Your friend: Es delicioso. ¿Quieres probarlo? (It’s delicious. Perform you want to shot it?)

You: Sí! Gracias. (Yes! thank you.)

You can likewise use this expression to see exactly how something, like an exam, has gone for someone. A brief dialog could be miscellaneous like:

You: Oye, ¿qué tal fue tu exámen de mates? (Hey, how did her math exam go?)

Your friend: Eh. No me ha salido mal pero no quiero pensarlo más ahora. ¿Vamos a tomar algo? (Eh. It wasn’t bad but ns don’t desire to think around it now. Execute you want to go drink something?)

OUR personal ADVICE:

In Spain this expression is used frequently and while it isn’t the many elegant expression over there is nothing wrong through using the on a continual basis (in fact, most world do). We could warn girlfriend though the most people don’t ask you ¿qué tal? in a deep or profound sense. Most of the moment they are looking for a response that is “bien,” or good. This is no to say that if a great friend asks you just how you space that you do not do it answer from her heart but that that is a typical thing to say and might not have any type of more definition than speak hello.

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You should additionally know the in message talk (aka Whatsapp, the means to talk in Spain—read an ext here) this expression is frequently translated to “¿K tal?” This deserve to be confound if friend don’t understand what girlfriend are trying to find but, if you uncover yourself in this situation, we recommend literally saying the native in the post to help you gain a better idea that what it means. In this situation the English letter ‘k’ sounds like the word ‘que’ in Spanish and is an easy method to minimize the variety of letters one has to write if texting.