¿Cómo? is the Spanish interrogative for manner and state — the rough equivalent of English "how?". It is one of the very first question words you need at A1, because it powers the most common openings in Spanish: ¿Cómo estás? (how are you?), ¿Cómo te llamas? (what's your name?), ¿Cómo se dice... ? (how do you say...?), and the standalone re-ask ¿Cómo? (sorry?). It also functions as an exclamative (¡Cómo llueve!) and shades into rhetorical and emotional uses.
The accent on the ó is not decorative — it is the only thing distinguishing the interrogative cómo from the connector como (without accent), which means like, as, since. Spelling these the same is a mistake; spelling them differently is grammar.
The core meaning: manner
The most basic use of ¿cómo? is asking about the manner in which something is done — the way, the method, the style.
¿Cómo lo has hecho? Está perfecto.
How did you do it? It's perfect.
¿Cómo se va al aeropuerto desde aquí?
How do you get to the airport from here?
¿Cómo se llama esto en español?
What's this called in Spanish? (literally: how does this call itself in Spanish)
Notice how ¿cómo? sometimes translates as English what rather than how. This is one of the most important things to internalize early on: Spanish often asks how where English asks what, especially in identification and naming contexts. ¿Cómo te llamas? is literally how do you call yourself? — and that is the standard, neutral way to ask someone's name. ¿Qué es tu nombre? exists grammatically but sounds foreign.
¿Cómo te llamas? — Me llamo Lucía.
What's your name? — My name is Lucía.
¿Cómo se escribe tu apellido?
How do you spell your last name?
¿Cómo está(s)? vs ¿cómo es?: the ser/estar split
Here the ser/estar distinction becomes a real practical problem. ¿Cómo? combines with both verbs, and the meaning shifts depending on which you pair it with.
- ¿Cómo está(s)? — asks about a current state, mood, or condition. Best translated how are you (feeling, doing right now)? or, for a thing, how is it (today, at the moment)?
- ¿Cómo es? — asks about an inherent quality, character, or identity. Best translated what is it like?, what kind of person is he?, what does it look like?
| Question | Asking about | English |
|---|---|---|
| ¿Cómo estás? | your current state / mood | How are you? |
| ¿Cómo eres? | your personality / appearance in general | What are you like? |
| ¿Cómo está la sopa? | the soup's current state (hot? salty? OK?) | How's the soup? |
| ¿Cómo es la sopa? | what kind of soup it is | What's the soup like? |
| ¿Cómo está tu hermano? | how he's doing right now | How's your brother (doing)? |
| ¿Cómo es tu hermano? | what kind of person he is | What's your brother like? |
¿Cómo estás? — Estoy bien, un poco cansada.
How are you? — I'm fine, a bit tired.
¿Cómo es Marta? — Es muy simpática y un poco tímida.
What's Marta like? — She's very friendly and a bit shy.
¿Cómo está el café? ¿Demasiado fuerte?
How's the coffee? Too strong? — Asking about its current state today, not what coffee is like in general.
For the underlying logic, see ser vs estar. The short version: estar is for states that could change (mood, location, condition at the moment); ser is for stable characteristics.
¿Cómo se dice... ?: the language-learner's lifeline
One of the most useful questions you will ever ask. ¿Cómo se dice...? (literally how does one say...?) uses the impersonal se and is the natural way to ask for a translation or the Spanish word for something.
¿Cómo se dice 'spoon' en español? — Se dice 'cuchara'.
How do you say 'spoon' in Spanish? — You say 'cuchara'.
¿Cómo se escribe? — Con dos eles.
How is it spelled? — With two L's.
¿Cómo se pronuncia esta palabra?
How is this word pronounced?
The same impersonal se construction reappears with escribir, pronunciar, traducir, deletrear (spell out). Learn the pattern once and you have a whole family of questions for free.
Standalone ¿Cómo?: the polite re-ask
When you have not heard or understood what someone said, Spaniards say ¿Cómo? — on its own, with rising intonation — to ask the speaker to repeat. It is the rough equivalent of English "Sorry?", "Pardon?", or "What?".
— Se me ha olvidado el paraguas. — ¿Cómo? — Que se me ha olvidado el paraguas.
— I forgot my umbrella. — Sorry? — I said I forgot my umbrella.
¿Cómo dices? No te he oído.
What did you say? I didn't hear you. — A fuller, slightly softer variant.
A bare ¿Qué? as a re-ask exists and is heard, but it sounds noticeably more abrupt — closer to English "What?!" with the connotation of mild irritation or disbelief. In Spain, ¿Cómo? or ¿Cómo dices? is the polite default. Use ¿Qué? only when you genuinely want to register surprise or annoyance.
The exclamative ¡Cómo... !: intensity
Drop the question mark, keep the accent, and cómo becomes an exclamative marking the intensity of an action or state. The structure is ¡Cómo + verb! and it translates roughly as how + adjective! or I can't believe how... !.
¡Cómo llueve! Llevamos toda la semana así.
How it's raining! It's been like this all week. — Marks intensity, not manner.
¡Cómo me gusta esta canción!
I love this song so much! (literally: how it pleases me)
¡Cómo ha cambiado el barrio en diez años!
How the neighbourhood has changed in ten years!
The exclamative ¡cómo! feels more emotionally loaded than English how — it conveys real surprise, admiration, or frustration. It is alive and well in everyday peninsular speech.
The accentless como: not a question word at all
Without the accent, como is a different word with three main jobs, none of which is asking a question. Understanding what como (no accent) does is the best way to lock in why the interrogative needs its accent.
| Use | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| comparison | like, as | Trabaja como un loco. |
| causal (sentence-initial) | since, because | Como llovía, no salimos. |
| approximation | around, about | Hay como cien personas. |
| conditional (+ subjunctive) | if | Como no estudies, suspenderás. |
Trabaja como un loco para terminar a tiempo.
He works like crazy to finish on time. — Como (no accent) = like.
Como llovía mucho, decidimos quedarnos en casa.
Since it was raining a lot, we decided to stay home. — Sentence-initial causal como.
Hay como veinte personas en la cola.
There are around twenty people in the queue. — Approximate como.
None of these takes an accent — and none of them is asking a question. The accent is reserved for the interrogative/exclamative cómo.
Indirect questions: the accent stays
When a question is embedded inside another sentence (after verbs like saber, preguntar, contar, explicar, no entender), it stops looking like a question typographically — there are no question marks — but the interrogative word still carries its accent.
No sé cómo funciona esta máquina.
I don't know how this machine works.
Me preguntó cómo me llamaba.
He asked me what my name was. — Embedded question; the accent on cómo is mandatory.
Cuéntame cómo conociste a Pablo.
Tell me how you met Pablo.
This is a place where learners routinely drop the accent — because it doesn't look like a question. Don't. The interrogative force is still there; the accent reflects it.
Common mistakes
❌ Como estás?
Missing accent and missing opening question mark. Cómo without accent means 'like / since', and the opening ¿ is mandatory in Spanish.
✅ ¿Cómo estás?
How are you? — Both punctuation marks and the accent on cómo.
❌ ¿Qué es tu nombre?
Grammatical but unidiomatic — Spanish does not ask for a name with qué + ser.
✅ ¿Cómo te llamas?
What's your name? — The standard, native way.
❌ ¿Cómo eres hoy?
Mismatch — ser is for stable identity. Asking about today/right now needs estar.
✅ ¿Cómo estás hoy?
How are you today? — Estar for current state.
❌ No sé como se llama.
Embedded question — cómo still needs its accent even without the question marks.
✅ No sé cómo se llama.
I don't know what he's called.
❌ ¿Qué? (as a re-ask to a stranger)
In peninsular Spanish, bare ¿Qué? as a re-ask sounds abrupt to a stranger.
✅ ¿Cómo? / ¿Perdón? / ¿Cómo dices?
Sorry? / Pardon? — The polite re-asks.
Key takeaways
- ¿Cómo? asks about manner or state — how?, but often translates as what? (especially with llamarse, decirse, escribirse).
- The accent on ó is mandatory for the interrogative and exclamative — it is the only thing distinguishing it from como (like, as, since).
- ¿Cómo está(s)? asks about current state; ¿cómo es? asks about inherent character. Mixing them up changes the question.
- Standalone ¿Cómo? is the polite sorry? pardon? — preferred over bare ¿Qué? with strangers.
- The exclamative ¡cómo + verb! marks intensity (¡Cómo llueve!).
- Embedded questions (no sé cómo...) keep the accent even without question marks.
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