Questions & Answers about Buenos días, ¿cómo estás?
Why is it plural? Doesn't buenos días literally mean "good days"?
Yes, it literally translates to "good days"! In Spanish, the standard greetings for parts of the day are always plural. This is why you say buenos días for "good morning," as well as buenas tardes (good afternoon) and buenas noches (good night). Días ends with an "a", so shouldn't it use the feminine buenas?
Normally, nouns ending in "-a" are feminine, but día is a famous exception! It is actually a masculine word (el día). Because it is masculine, the adjective matching it must also be masculine, which is why we say buenos. Why do we use estás here instead of eres?
Both verbs mean "to be," but Spanish uses the verb estar (which estás comes from) for temporary states, moods, and health. Since you are asking how someone is feeling in this moment, you must use estás. Where is the word for "you" in ¿cómo estás?
In Spanish, the ending of the verb tells you who is doing the action. The -s ending in estás specifically means "you" (the informal singular "you"). Because the verb already gives us this information, we don't need to add the pronoun tú. Why is there an upside-down question mark (¿) before cómo?
Spanish requires an inverted question mark at the beginning of any question. This is actually very helpful for reading, because it warns you to use a questioning tone of voice right from the start of the sentence! Learn Buenos días, ¿cómo estás and more in Spanish
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