Probably the first phrase we learn for ‘how are you’ is ‘cómo estás’. This is good enough at first, and it is universally understood. When you’re among native Spanish speakers however, you will probably find that it’s just one among a load of phrases that they use to convey the say meaning. Below is a list of the most common slang or colloquial phrases that Spanish speakers tend to use:

1. ¿ Cómo estás ?

Considered the standard, ‘cómo estás’ is universally understood and is the the phrase that most text books teach:

2. ¿ Qué tal (estás)?

Perhaps one of the most common of all phrases, ‘qué tal’ or ‘qué tal estás’ is used among friends and colleagues to mean ‘how are you’:

3. ¿ Qué hay (de nuevo) ?

This is a common phrase among close friends and relatives, it means ‘what’s new’ but the ‘de nuevo’ part is often omitted:

4. ¿ Cómo vas ? / ¿ Cómo te va ?

This one is perhaps a little more colloquial than those already mentioned and is used to ask, ‘how’s it going’:

¡ No me tomes el pelo !
Stop pulling my leg !

¡ Qué rollo !
What a pain / bore !

Está en el quinto pino.
It’s in the back of beyond

One of the most common mistakes that spanish language learners make is the incorrect choice of article for irregular nouns. Below is a list of five of the most common nouns that people make mistakes with.

la mano

It is a common mistake to say ‘el mano’. In spanish almost all body parts are regular.

el problema

Words ending in ‘-ma’ derive from Greek, and almost all are feminine.

el tema

Here is another example of an ‘-ma’ word:

la foto

When a word is a contraction of a larger word, we generally keep the article of the original word. In this example, ‘foto’ is a contraction of ‘fotografía’, which ends in an ‘a’ and is therefore feminine

el mapa

Some words simply go against the rules and we have to memorize these individually. ‘Mapa’ is masculine even though it ends in ‘-a’.

‘Ser’ and ‘Estar’ present one of the biggest problems for foreign people learning Spanish. While ‘Ser’ tends to suggest permanence where ‘Estar’ is used more with temporary states of being, often the lines separating the two become blurred and this is where one can make mistakes. Below are five common examples where Spanish learners slip-up.

‘Ser bueno’ and ‘Estar bueno’

¡Qué bueno eres!	You’re a good person!
Hay una chica en mi clase que está muy buena.	There´s a girl in my class who is really hot/attractive.

Remember: although there are some exceptions, we generally use ’ser’ when talking about the person’s personality and ‘estar’ when referring to them physically.

‘Ser simpatico’ and ‘Estar simpatico’

 

La profesora de español es muy simpática.	The Spanish teacher is a very friendly person.
El dueño del bar está muy simpático esta mañana.	The bar owner is very friendly this morning.

 

Don’t forget that ’ser’ is used to describe how people are in general and ‘estar’ how they are at any specific moment.

‘Ser rico’ and ‘Estar rico’

 

Tiene una gran casa porque es rico.	He has a big house because he’s rich.
El pollo está muy rico.	The chicken is very nice.

 

‘Ser alto’ and ‘Estar alto’

 

Mi hijo es muy alto.	My son is very tall.
¡Cuánto tiempo sin verte!¡Qué alto estás!	I haven´t seen you in ages! Look how tall you’ve got!

 

Bear in mind: when talking about the physical location of objects, we always use ‘estar’:

 

Cógeme ese libro por favor, está muy alto.

Get me that book please, it’s too high.

 

‘Ser guapo’ and ‘Estar guapo’

 

Estás muy guapa con ese vestido.	You look beautiful in that dress.
Esa actriz es muy guapa.	That actress is gorgeous.

 

When ones language learning advances to the intermediate/advanced stages, it becomes increasingly more important to learn common phrases and colloquialisms. Below is a list of ten spoken

1) Cuesta una pasta

2) No me toques las narices

3) Me está rallando

4) Rascarse la barriga

5) Quedarse a dos velas

6) Ser un petardo

7) Ponerse chulo

8) Ponerse morado

9) Pasarse veinte pueblos

10) No me líes

Common Uses

In its most basic form ‘cuál’ is a pronoun meaning ‘which one?’ referring to a group of objects. Spanish language learners often use ‘qué’ where ‘cuál’ may be more appropriate. Below are some common examples of ‘cuál’ while referring to objects:

¿Cuál te gusta?	Which one do you like?
¿Cuál van a comprar?	Which one are they going to buy?
¿Cuál era?	Which one was it?

When referring to people the personal ‘a’ must be included:

¿A cuál de los tres prefieres?	Which one of the three (people) do you prefer?
¿A cuál debo elegir?	Which one of them (person) should I choose?
¿A cuál?	Which one (person)?

Note: While ‘cuál’ is a valid form of saying ‘which’ in reference to people, more often than not ‘Quién’ is preferred.

‘Cuál es…?’ or ‘Qué es…?’

When wishing to say ‘what is…?’ in Spanish, the most common translation is ‘Cuál es’. Another translation however is ‘qué es’ so it’s important to know how to distinguish between the two.

A simple explanation is that ‘qué es’ is used to pose questions regarding the nature and definition of things (what kind of thing is…?) whereas ‘cuál es’ is more generic and used for everything else.

Examples of ‘cuál es’:

¿Cuál es tu opinion?	What is your opinion?
¿Cuál es el plan?	What’s the plan?
¿Cuál quiere?	Which does he want?

Examples of ‘qué es’:

¿De qué color es tu coche?	What colour is your car?
¿Qué es el internet?	What is the Internet?
¿Qué hace un entrenador?	What does a manager (sporting) do?

‘Que’ is used when talking about dates and times:

¿Qué hora es?

What time is it?

‘¿Cuál…?’ Before a Noun

Generally speaking, ‘cuál’ is not placed before nouns. This is especially true in the Spanish from Spain. In parts of Latin America however, this rule is less strict. The general guideline is to place ‘qué’ and not ‘cuál’ before a noun:

¿De qué (not. ‘cuál’) color es su pelo?	What colour is her hair?
¿Qué (not. ‘cuál’) coche prefieres?	Which car do you prefer?

Archaic Use of ‘Cual’

‘Cual’ can be used without an accent to mean ‘como’ (‘as’) but this is considered archaic and is nowadays only used for poetic value:

Lo guardaba en un cajón cual un tesoro.

He stored it in a draw like a treasure.

 

You may think that this is a simple issue but I hear lots of people making the wrong choice of word so I feel it needs examining here – all be it briefly. There are three common words for school in Spanish, these are:

I would advise that people use ‘el colegio’ for primary or infant school and ‘el instituto’ for high or secondary school. I have heard it said by Spanish natives that ‘la escuela’ is used more for specialized type schools. Examples of which are ‘la autoescuela’ (driving school) and ‘la escuela de idiomas’ (language school).