Questions & Answers about ¡Hola! ¿Qué tal?
Why are there upside-down exclamation and question marks at the beginning?
In Spanish, exclamations and questions are framed with opening and closing marks. The inverted marks ¡ and ¿ go at the start, so you know exactly what tone to use right from the beginning of the sentence!
Do I pronounce the letter "h" in Hola?
No, the letter "h" is always silent in Spanish. You pronounce Hola starting straight with the "o" sound.
Does ¿Qué tal? literally translate to "How are you?"?
Not literally. Qué means "what" and tal can mean "such" or "so". However, as a set phrase, ¿Qué tal? is used just like "How's it going?" or "What's up?" in English. If you want to literally ask "How are you?", you would say ¿Cómo estás?.
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