Confused about the phrase "como esta usted"

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Hello!
I just recently started learning Spanish from the pimsleur tapes, so please bear with me if this is a dumb question. On the tapes "how are you" is said: "como esta usted," which threw me off because I expected it to be "como es usted." Also, when I looked up how to say "how are you" in Spanish online, all I ever came across was "como esta." Where does the 'ta' after 'es' come from, and what's the difference between 'como esta usted' and 'como esta?' I hope my spelling isn't off (I'm learning from audio after all). Thanks in advance for any help anyone can give.

Usuario Nuevo02

UrbanSpace:

Hi there Hiram!

The phrase 'cómo está usted.' is a polite term. The word 'está' comes from the verb 'estar' meaning to be. In spanish there are two ways of saying 'to be.'

1 - Ser - Used for things that will never change, such as nationality or charactaristics.

2 - Estar - Used for temporary things, such as one's location or health (How are you?)

As one's health or mood isn't permanent we use the verb estar. In response, a conjugation of estar is used again to say 'I am...' We would say 'estoy...'

The differences between 'cómo está usted' and 'cómo está' are due to personal pronouns (I, you, he, she, we, they) which are used rarely in spanish. In this case, the 'usted' in 'cómo está usted' is used simply to reinforce who's being asked. This is because 'está', conjugated from estar, means either he/she/you(formal) is.

Here's the conjugation of estar in the present tense, just to amplify:

Yo estoy I am
Tú estás You are
Él está He/She/You(formal) are
Nosotros estamos We are
Vosotros estáis You (plural) are
Ellos están They are

Hope that clears it up a little

Liam

Usuario Nuevo04

Hiram:

Big help, thank you very much for your reply Emotion: big smile

UrbanSpace:

No probs =] Glad to be of help!

Liam

Anonymous:

There isn't much difference between "como esta" or "como esta usted".Usted is used as affirmative pronoun.

And when it comes to other question: "como es" is for physical description such as tall,short,blond,skinny,etc.

So to ask "how are you" always one needs to say "como esta" in spanish.

Anonymous:

I checked with my Mexican friend and he would rarely, if ever, us this wording. It is far too polite for daily use.

Carolina:

I think Como esta ud.? would be used if you were talking to your manager or a customer. Is that what you guys think?

Usuario Frecuente482

Anonymous:

yep

¿como esta usted? (formal ) : speacially for (manager,important customer,grandpa,grandma(family) ,parents ,I mean respect for them!

friends you can use: [Y] ¿cómo estas? informal

chao!![Y]

Anonymous:

HiramHello!
I just recently started learning Spanish from the pimsleur tapes, so please bear with me if this is a dumb question. On the tapes "how are you" is said: "como esta usted," which threw me off because I expected it to be "como es usted." Also, when I looked up how to say "how are you" in Spanish online, all I ever came across was "como esta." Where does the 'ta' after 'es' come from, and what's the difference between 'como esta usted' and 'como esta?' I hope my spelling isn't off (I'm learning from audio after all). Thanks in advance for any help anyone can give.

well....pimsleur is a good software for it!!. ¿como esta usted? (how are you?) formal

¿Cómo estas? (hey, how ya doin?) informal

be welcome!!!

[F]

Confused about the phrase "como esta usted"

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