Breakdown of Hola, ¿qué tal estás?
estar
to be (location/state)
hola
hello / hi
¿qué tal?
how are you? / how's it going?
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Questions & Answers about Hola, ¿qué tal estás?
Why is there an upside-down question mark at the beginning of the question?
In Spanish, all written questions must start with an inverted question mark (¿) and end with a standard one (?). This helps you know a question is coming as soon as you start reading the sentence!
Why do we use estás here instead of eres since both mean "you are"?
Spanish has two verbs for "to be": ser and estar. We use estar (which gives us estás for "you" in informal situations) when talking about feelings, moods, or how someone is doing at this exact moment. The other verb, ser, is used for more permanent things like your identity, occupation, or where you are from.
I often just hear people say ¿Qué tal?. Do I always need to add estás?
How do I pronounce the H in Hola?
The letter H is always completely silent in Spanish. You pronounce Hola exactly as if it were spelled ola.