In a previous lesson, we learned various ways to say "never" in Spanish. But what about "ever"? Find out in today's lesson!
To start, note that two of the very same formulas that were used to say "never" in Spanish can also be used to say "ever." This is due to the fact that sometimes an idea in English can be expressed with either of these two words. Let's take a look at these formulas to understand better.
Let's look at this formula where nunca has been translated as "never":
Oh... ¡Nunca voy a tener un novio!
Oh... I'm never going to have a boyfriend!
Caption 28, Extr@: Extra en español - Ep. 3 - Sam aprende a ligar
Play Caption
However, this very same formula can also mean "ever" because an alternative translation of the sentence above into English would be:
Oh... ¡Nunca voy a tener un novio!
Oh... I'm not ever going to have a boyfriend!
The same can be said for the formula no + sentence + nunca, as in the following example:
No te has equivocado nunca.
You've never made a mistake.
Once again, this very same construction can also be used to convey the idea of "ever" since an alternative English translation for this sentence would be: "You haven't ever made a mistake." Let's view this same sentence in question form:
¿No te has equivocado nunca?
Haven't you ever made a mistake?
Caption 73, 75 minutos - Del campo a la mesa
Play Caption
In addition, negative commands with the word nunca can be used to say the equivalent of "ever" in Spanish:
Y por favor, no me lo dejes solo nunca.
And please, for me, don't ever leave him alone.
Caption 5, Confidencial: Asesino al Volante - Capítulo 1 - Part 14
Play Caption
Let's examine some more ways to say the English word "ever" in Spanish in different contexts.
One of the most common and straightforward ways to say "ever" in Spanish in the sense of "at some point in time" is alguna vez, typically within a question with either the present perfect or preterite tense. Let's see some examples:
¿Se han preguntado alguna vez por qué es importante reír?
Have you ever wondered why it's important to laugh?
Caption 8, Mónica - La risa
Play Caption
¿Alguna vez te pasó?
Has it ever happened to you?
Caption 32, Verano Eterno - Fiesta Grande
Play Caption
De todos los tiempos is yet another way to say "ever" in Spanish when the meaning is "of all time," which is, in fact, the literal translation of this phrase and could replace "ever" in the following example:
Hoy tenemos la fortuna de tenerlo entre nosotros,
Today we have the fortune to have him amongst us,
al más grande exponente de todos los tiempos, ¡al Señor Gardel!
the greatest example ever, Mister Gardel!
Captions 44-45, Yago - 1 La llegada
Play Caption
Finally, let's check out how many common English expressions with "ever" such as "more than ever," "never ever," etc. are said in Spanish.
Y yo te amé, como nunca jamás lo imaginé
And I loved you, as I never ever imagined it
Caption 8, Muñeca Brava - 9 Engaños
Play Caption
Ahora más que nunca, vas a hacer lo que yo te diga.
Now more than ever, you are going to do whatever I tell you.
Caption 10, Muñeca Brava - 7 El poema
Play Caption
El tiempo ha estado mejor/peor que nunca.
The weather has been better/worse than ever.
In fact, any adjective or adverb can be used between más (more) and que nunca (than ever) to convey the equivalent of English phrases with "than ever." Let's see a few examples:
Hoy he corrido más rápido que nunca.
Today, I've run faster than ever.
En cambio vos no cambiaste nada;
On the other hand you haven't changed a bit;
estás más hermosa que nunca.
you're more beautiful than ever.
Caption 56, Yago - 11 Prisión
Play Caption
¿No me quieres volver a ver nunca más?
You don't ever want to see me again?
Caption 2, Confidencial: Asesino al Volante - Capítulo 1 - Part 2
Play Caption
Another translation for this sentence could be "You never want to see me again?"
y desde entonces se nos quedó adentro.
and it has remained within us ever since.
Caption 8, Región mundo - Paso a paso
Play Caption
And speaking of "ever since," did you know that, in addition to Vivieron felices para siempre, one of the manners of saying the popular storybook line "They lived happily ever after" in Spanish is Vivieron felices y comieron perdices ("They lived happily and ate partridges")? On that note, we'll conclude this lesson, hoping that you've learned a lot of useful phrases for translating the concept of "ever" into Spanish. And don't forget to write us with any questions or suggestions.
If you are wondering how to say "How are you?" in Spanish, the standard, casual way of doing so is: ¿Cómo estás? However, there are many more ways to say "How are you?" in Spanish, and this lesson will cover many of the most common.
As we just mentioned, ¿Cómo estás? is the best-known, informal way of saying "How are you?" in Spanish. But, how do you say "How are you?" in formal Spanish? In that case, you will need to address the other person using the formal form of "you," usted:
¿Cómo está usted?
How are you?
Caption 25, Cleer y Lida Saludar en español
Play Caption
That said, as there are many ways to say "you" in Spanish, let's take a look at how to say "How are you?" in Spanish with the forms of estar (to be) that correspond to each of the additional subject pronouns that mean "you": vos (singular, informal "you" in certain regions), vosotros/as (informal plural "you" in Spain), and ustedes (the prevalent plural "you" in most countries).
Bien. ¿Cómo estás vos?
Fine. How are you?
Caption 30, Muñeca Brava 18 - La Apuesta - Part 6
Play Caption
Note that while the verb conjugations for vos and tú typically differ, in the case of estar, they are exactly the same.
¿Cómo estáis?
How are you?
Caption 3, Isabel Lavesa Dibujo en acuarela
Play Caption
Hola, amigos de Yabla. ¿Cómo están?
Hello, friends of Yabla. How are you?
Captions 1-2, María Fernanda Mascarilla de aguacate
Play Caption
You may have noticed that the subject pronoun (vos) is only explicitly stated in the first of the three examples since doing so is optional in Spanish, where specific verb conjugations usually let us know who is being addressed or spoken about.
Just like in English you can use alternatives such as "How's it going?" "What's up?" "What's going on?" etc., there are a plethora of more slangy ways to say "How are you?" in Spanish. Let's look at several.
The English translations for ¿Qué tal? range from "How are you?" to "How's it going?" and "What's up?" Let's hear it in action:
Por ejemplo, si yo digo: ¿Qué tal?
For example, if I say: How's it going?
Caption 2, Curso de español ¿Qué tal? Ni bien ni mal...
Play Caption
As a side note, although bien (well) and mal (poorly) are typical answers to this question, the video ¿Qué tal? Ni bien ni mal will give you several ways to say you're somewhere in between.
While ¿Qué hay? could be used to literally ask "What is there?" or "What's available?" it can also be used to ask someone "What's up?" or "What's going on?"
¿Qué hay, amigo?
What's up, friend
You might also hear the following variation:
¿Qué hay de nuevo, compadre?
What's new, buddy?
And, if you want to sound like a true Colombian, you can try this alternative version of ¿Qué hay? with the verb haber in the preterite tense instead of the present tense (literally meaning "What was there?"). Notice the slangy spelling/pronunciation variation in the second example.
"Ey, ¿qué hubo pues, paisa? ¿Todo bien o qué, hombre?"
"Hey, what's up, buddy? [Is] everything good or what, man?"
Caption 16, Español en las calles Varias expresiones
Play Caption
¿Quiubo, quiubo, linda? ¿Cómo vas?
What's up, what's up, beautiful? How are you?
Caption 3, Confidencial: El rey de la estafa Capítulo 4 - Part 8
Play Caption
As you might have noticed, the last example above contained yet another way to say "How are you?" in Spanish: ¿Cómo vas?
Another option for saying "How are you?" in Spanish, "¿Cómo te va?" might also be translated as "How's it going for you?" Of course, you should use the appropriate indirect object pronoun (te, le, les, or os) to correspond to the form of "you" you're intending, or just omit it entirely and just say ¿Cómo va? (How's it going?). Let's hear a couple of examples:
¿Y cómo te va?
And how are you?
Caption 38, Los Años Maravillosos Capítulo 8 - Part 1
Play Caption
¿Cómo les va?
How is it going for you?
Caption 4, Misión Chef 1 La selección - Part 3
Play Caption
Now, let's hear a straightforward Spanish translation of the English phrase "How's everything going?"
¿Cómo va todo?
How's everything going?
Caption 18, Festivaliando Mono Núñez - Part 13
Play Caption
"¿Cómo van las cosas?" is a similar expression that literally means "How are things going?"
The verb andar, which literally means "to walk," appears in the common expression "¿Cómo andas?" which can be heard in many countries but is particularly common in Argentina (with vos, of course!).
En Argentina, saludamos así: "Hola, che. ¿Cómo andás? ¿Todo bien?"
In Argentina, we greet [people] like this: "Hello, hey. How's it going? [Is] everything good?"
Caption 10, Español en las calles Varias expresiones
Play Caption
As you can see in the last example, "todo bien?" is an additional manner of asking someone how they are and is the equivalent of such English expressions as "All good?" "Is everything OK?" or even "How's it going?"
One of the best-known ways to say "What's going on?" in Spanish is, of course, "¿Qué pasa?" This phrase can be employed to ask "what's going on" with someone in a general sense, or to inquire about a particular situation.
¿Qué pasa?
What's going on?
Caption 1, Extr@: Extra en español Ep. 3 - Sam aprende a ligar - Part 2
Play Caption
Our final "How are you?" in Spanish equivalent for today is "¿Qué (me) cuentas?" which literally means, "What do you tell (me)?" but serves as another manner of asking someone "What's new?" You may hear it either with or without the me.
And these are just a handful of the many, less formal ways to say "How are you?" in Spanish, which vary widely between regions and individuals. Are you familiar with any others? How do you say "How are you?" in Spanish? Let us know with your suggestions and comments!
In past lessons, we have spoken about informal commands and formal commands in Spanish when addressed to one or more people. But, what if we want to give a command to a group of people of which we are a part? That's where the imperative form for nosotros/as ("we") comes in.
While the meaning of positive and negative commands with tú, usted, ustedes, and vosotros can feel more, well... "commanding" ("Do this!" or "Don't do that!"), the translation for commands with nosotros/as sounds more like a suggestion: "Let's..." do such and such a thing. That said, "let's take a look at" (veamos) a few examples:
Miremos quién era Pablo Escobar.
Let's look at who Pablo Escobar was.
Caption 3, Los Tiempos de Pablo Escobar Capítulo 1 - Part 7
Play Caption
Comamos una pasta.
Let's eat some pasta.
Caption 74, Sofy y Caro Comida en un restaurante
Play Caption
y abramos nuestro corazón a otras culturas,
and let's open our hearts to other cultures,
Caption 79, Silvina Una entrevista con la artista
Play Caption
Now that we know the meaning of nosotros commands, let's learn how to conjugate them. In order to do so, we should revisit (or learn) how to conjugate verbs in the present subjunctive because the nosotros/as imperative form is the same as the nosotros/as present subjunctive.
To summarize briefly, to conjugate the present subjunctive, we take a verb's stem (most typically the yo form of the verb minus the -o), and add the appropriate endings (-e, -es, -e, -emos, -éis, and -en for -ar verbs and -a, -as, -a, -amos, -áis, and -an for -er and -ir verbs). Let's take a look:
| Personal Pronoun: | -ar Verbs | -er Verbs | -ir Verbs |
|---|---|---|---|
| yo | hable | coma | suba |
| tú | hables | comas | subas |
| él/ella/usted | hable | coma | suba |
| nosotros/as | hablemos | comamos | subamos |
| vosotros/as | habléis | comáis | subáis |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | hablen | coman | suban |
Although these are simple examples with regular verbs, other verbs are a bit more complex. For example, stem-changing verbs like perder (to lose), which changes to pierdo in the present, change stems in the subjunctive in all forms except nosotros/as and vosotros/as, making the conjugation in the nosotros form perdamos (rather than pierdamos). However, the important thing to remember is that the present subjunctive "we" form is the exact same as the nosotros/as command form! So, if you know one, you know the other.
So, how do we tell someone "let's not" (do something)? As Carlos explains to us in the following clip, constructing a negative command with nosostros in Spanish is as easy as adding "no" in front of the affirmative form:
imperativo afirmativo: "Hablemos de este tema", imperativo negativo: "No hablemos de esto con tu mamá".
affirmative imperative: "Hablemos de este tema" [Let's talk about this subject], negative imperative: "No hablemos de esto con tu mamá" [Let's not talk about this with your mom].
Captions 30-32, Carlos explica El modo imperativo 4: Nosotros + reflexivos
Play Caption
Let's see one more example:
Así que no perdamos más tiempo
So let's not waste any more time
Caption 11, NPS No puede ser 1 - El concurso - Part 2
Play Caption
Of course, verbs that have an irregular form in the present subjunctive also have an irregular form in the nosotros/as imperative form, for example, sepamos for saber, seamos for ser, estemos for estar, etc. So, when we talk about irregular verbs in the nosotros command form, we are talking about verbs whose form deviates from the present subjunctive form. This is only the case for the verb ir (to go) because, to say "Let's go" in Spanish, the present indicative conjugation of nosotros is used rather than the present subjunctive conjugation:
Vamos, Merycita.
Let's go, Merycita.
Caption 39, Club 10 Capítulo 1 - Part 3
Play Caption
On the other hand, when we want to say "Let's not go," we do use the subjunctive form, vayamos:
No vayamos al evento.
Let's not go to the event.
An alternative way to say "Let's" in Spanish is with the following formula:
Let's take a look at some examples:
¡Vamos a bailar!
Let's dance!
Caption 36, Guillermina y Candelario La competencia de baile - Part 2
Play Caption
Bueno, vamos a ver.
Well, let's see.
Caption 4, Extr@: Extra en español Ep. 3 - Sam aprende a ligar - Part 2
Play Caption
¡Vamos a empezar!
Let's begin!
Caption 10, Ana Carolina Gérmenes
Play Caption
Note that while this very same construction can also mean "we are going to" (do something), you will often be able to tell one's intended meaning from context. For example, in the caption above, ¡Vamos a bailar! has been translated as "Let's dance!" However, if a dance teacher said, Hoy vamos a bailar la cumbia as an explanation of the class's daily agenda, the more likely translation would be "Today, we're going to dance cumbia." That said, there are cases in which the intention of such a statement may be difficult to discern.
For more on this topic, check out Carlos' video on the imperative with nosotros. We hope you've enjoyed this lesson, and don't forget to leave us your suggestions and comments.
If you have been studying Spanish, you probably know that the Spanish verbs, ser and estar, have a common translation in English: '"to be." With that in mind, let's start this lesson with a practical example. Your Spanish friend has just invited you to her wedding (boda) in Madrid, and you want to ask her (in Spanish, of course!) the following simple question: "Where is the wedding?" Which verb would you choose, ser or estar? Would you ask, Dónde está or Dónde es la boda? Let's find out.
Are you wondering about the meaning of dónde está in English? Generally speaking, we use the verb estar when we want to talk about the position or location of someone or something. Considering that dónde means "where," we use dónde está when we want to know where someone or something is located. Let's look at a couple of examples so that you can better understand the use of the verb estar when talking about position or location:
¿Sabes dónde está la biblioteca?
Do you know where the library is?
Caption 20, Español para principiantes - Hablando de ubicaciones
Play Caption
El pulverizador, ss... ss... está en el baño.
The spray, ss... ss... is in the bathroom.
Caption 63, Extr@: Extra en español - Ep. 3 - Sam aprende a ligar
Play Caption
Se llama Frigiliana, y está en la provincia de Málaga.
It's called Frigiliana, and it's in the province of Malaga.
Caption 6, Viajando con Fermín - Frigiliana, Málaga
Play Caption
According to the above logic, we could solve the question we posed at the beginning of this lesson by saying, ¿Dónde está la boda?, right? Well, not so fast!
When using dónde (where) for asking about the location of something, there is one case in which you should use the verb ser rather than estar: when asking about the location of an event. For that reason, the correct manner of asking the aforementioned question would be, ¿Dónde es la boda? Let's look at additional examples where the verb ser would be necessary:
¿Dónde es el funeral?
Where's the funeral?
Caption 1, Los Años Maravillosos - Capítulo 3
Play Caption
¿Dónde es la fiesta?
Where is the party?
Caption 11, Raquel - Expresiones para un festival de música.
Play Caption
There are, however, some cases in which you can use either verb, depending upon what you wish to express. For example, if you want to ask someone about the executive breakfast your company is organizing, you would say, ¿Dónde es el desayuno? In this case, you use the verb ser because you are talking about an event. However, if you are referring to the breakfast as the food you are going to eat, you would say, ¿Dónde está el desayuno? In this case, you use the verb estar because you are asking about the location of something that is not an event. Let's take a look:
EVENT
-¿Dónde es el desayuno? -El desayuno es en el hotel.
-Where is the breakfast? -The breakfast is at the hotel.
FOOD
-¿Dónde está el desayuno? -El desayuno está en la nevera.
-Where's breakfast? -Breakfast is in the fridge.
Finally, a good rule of thumb to decide when it would be necessary to use ¿Dónde es...? rather than ¿Dónde está? is to ask oneself whether the verb could be subsituted with tiene lugar (takes place), in which case the verb, ser, should be utilized. For example: Since ¿Dónde tiene lugar la fiesta? (Where is the party taking place) makes perfect sense, ¿Dónde es la fiesta? would be the correct manner of asking where the party is.
That's all for today. We hope you enjoyed this lesson, and don't forget to send us your comments and suggestions. ¡Hasta la próxima!
French
German
Italian
Chinese
English
English 
Français
Deutsch
Español
Italiano
Português
