I remember listening to an audio Spanish course in which Michel Thomas describe ‘Así’ as a “very useful little word”. The more I came to use and learn about Spanish the more I found myself agreeing with Thomas’ evaluation. ‘Así’ has so many different uses and functions.

On its own, ‘así’ is used to mean ‘like that’ or ‘that way’. Consider the following examples:

Me gusta mi té así.	I like my tea like that.
No se puede hacer así.	You can’t do it that way.

There are also a large number of common expressions where ‘así’ pops-up:

Así así.	So-so.
Algo así.	Something like that.
Algo así como…	Something like…
Así como así.	Any old how / As if it were nothing.
Así de…	So…
Así sea.	So be it.
Así es.	That’s it / That’s correct / Yes.
¡Así me gusta!	That’s the way I like it!
Aún así…	Even so…
¡No seas así!	Don’t be like that!