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cómo

adverbBeginnerHigh frequency

What does “cómo” mean in English?

  1. how

Example sentences

  • ¿Cómo te llamas?

    What's your name? (lit. how do you call yourself)

  • ¿Cómo estás?

    How are you?

  • ¿Cómo se dice 'house' en español?

    How do you say 'house' in Spanish?

How to use it

¿Cómo? means 'how?' (or 'what?' for clarification, e.g. ¿cómo dices?). The accent distinguishes it from como ('as', 'like').

Common mistake

¿Cómo te llamas? translates word-by-word to 'how do you call yourself' — but the natural English is 'what's your name'. Don't say '¿Qué es tu nombre?' (it works but is less idiomatic).

Topics

Related Beginner words

Reference

This entry’s teaching guidance follows A New Reference Grammar of Modern Spanish (Butt, Benjamin & Moreira Rodríguez, Routledge), 24.