Learn Spanish (Spain): Hola, ¿qué tal? Muy bien.

In Spanish, all written questions must start with an inverted question mark (¿) and end with a standard one (?). This helps you know immediately when a question begins, which is especially useful for reading aloud!

What does "qué tal" literally mean, and can I use it like "how are you"?

Literally, it translates to something like "what such", which doesn't make sense in English. It is a very common fixed phrase used as a casual greeting, just like "how's it going?" or "what's up?". You can use it as a friendly, everyday alternative to "¿cómo estás?".

Why is the 'h' in "Hola" not pronounced?

In Spanish, the letter 'h' is always completely silent. You pronounce "Hola" exactly as if it were spelled "ola".

Why do we use "muy bien" instead of "mucho bien"?

"Muy" means "very", while "mucho" means "a lot" or "much". Because we are describing how well something is going, we use "muy" (very well). You use "mucho" when talking about quantities, like "mucho dinero" (a lot of money).