‘How was your day?’ is a simple and polite question, but it also suggests that we actually care about the person we´re talking to.
So, if you’re learning Spanish or living in a Spanish-speaking country, this is a phrase that you’re probably gonna be using on the regular!
With that in mind, let’s take a look at not one but 8 (yes, 8!!!) different ways to say, ‘How was your day?’ in Spanish.
Ready? Let’s go!
KEY TAKEAWAYS
The most common ways to ask ‘How was your day?’ in Spanish are the following –
1. ¿Cómo estuvo tu día? = How was your day?
2. ¿Qué tal tu día? = How was your day?
3. ¿Cómo te fue hoy? = How was it today?
Each of these questions has a more formal version using “usted”, which is basically a formal way of saying ‘you’ (yeah, there are two different ways to say ‘you’ in Spanish!).
¿Cómo estuvo su día? = How was your day?
1 ¿Cómo estuvo tu día? – How was your day? (informal)
The literal translation of ‘how was your day?’ is ‘¿cómo estuvo tu día?’ and it should be your go-to phrase when enquiring as to how someone´s day went.
Rest assured you’ll be understood no matter what Spanish-speaking country you’re in.
Una pareja se encuentra en casa para cenar
Iraí – ¡Hola, corazón! ¿Cómo estuvo tu día?
Alex – Estuvo bien, mi vida, ¿y el tuyo?
A couple meets at home for dinner
Iraí – Hey, sweetheart! How was your day?
Alex – It was fine, honey, and yours?
2 ¿Cómo estuvo su día? – How was your day? (formal)
Wanna sound more formal?
Just switch the possessive adjective ‘tu’ with ‘su’!
This may be useful if you’re speaking to an authority figure, an elder, a stranger, or all of the above.
Rupert’s top tip – a “possessive adjective” is a word used to show possession or ownership of a noun.
When you’re addressing 1 person, you’ll normally use the “possessive adjective” ‘tu’ (or ‘your’), but if you wanna sound extra respectful you can use ‘su’ instead (it also translates to ‘your’).
So, ‘su día’ is literally just a more “formal” version of ‘tu día’
Un par de vecinos se saludan
Jorge – ¿Qué onda, mijo*?
Iván – ¡Don Jorge, buenas noches! ¿Cómo estuvo su día?
Jorge – Hoy coseché tomates. ¡Nada como el retiro!
Two neighbors say hello
Jorge – How’s it going, mijo*?
Iván – Don Jorge, good evening! How was your day?
Jorge – Today I harvested tomatoes. There’s nothing like being retired!
*Erika’s note – Mexicans use quite a few interesting and whimsical terms of endearment, such as ‘mijo’, short for ‘mi hijo’ or ‘my son’.
Formal occasions are not the only circumstance in which the “usted” form can be used.
This manner of speech is extremely common in Colombia, for example … sometimes even friends and family speak to each other using the formal ‘you’ –
Hilda – ¿Cómo estuvo su día, niños?
Linda – ¡Bien, mami!
Sebas – Más o menos…Tienes que firmar este aviso de suspensión…
Hilda – How was your day, kids?
Linda – It was good, Mommy!
Sebas – It was ok … You need to sign this letter of suspension …
3 ¿Qué tal tu día? – How was your day? (informal)
‘Qué tal’ is a wildly popular greeting in the Spanish-speaking world, the likes of ‘what’s up’ in English.
Whack the words ‘your day’, or ‘tu día’ in Spanish, on the end and you’ll get a more casual sounding equivalent of ‘how was your day?’.
Alba – ¿Qué tal tu día, Pá?
Gilberto – Algo cansado, la verdad. ¿Qué tal te fue en la escuela?
Alba – How was your day, Dad?
Gilberto – A bit tiring, to be honest. How was school?
4 ¿Qué tal su día? – How was your day? (formal)
Despite its casual ring, ‘qué tal’ can also be used in formal conversations.
Just replace ‘tu’ with ‘su’ and you’ll be good to go!
Patricio – ¿Qué tal su día, Sra. Gómez?
Mónica – Ahí la llevo, Sr. Rojas, ¿y usted?
Patricio – How’s your day going, Mrs. Gómez?
Mónica – I’m hanging in there, Mr. Rojas, and you?
If you’re still curious about the use of ‘qué tal’ in formal and casual contexts, I recommend you check out our full article on the matter!
5 ¿Cómo te fue hoy? – How was it today?
Short and simple, this question translates to something along the lines of ‘How was it today?’.
Quique – ¿Cómo te fue hoy en el entrenamiento?
Imelda – ¡Estuvo mortal! Me duele todo el cuerpo.
Quique – How was practice today?
Imelda – It was brutal! My whole body hurts.
6 ¿Cómo les fue hoy? – How was your day? (plural ‘you’)
Speaking to a group of people (“you plural”)?
Well, if you’re in Mexico, you´re gonna have to substitute that ‘te’ with a ‘les’.
Rupert’s note – use ‘le’ for the formal ‘you’ – as in ‘¿cómo le fue hoy?’ and ‘les’ for ‘you’ plural (both formal and informal).
Para hablarle a tu grupo de amigos
¿Cómo les fue hoy? ¿Qué me cuentan?
Talking to your group of friends
How was it today? Tell me all about it!
Para saludar al director de la escuela
¿Cómo le fue hoy, Mto. Escalona?
Greeting the school principal
How was your day, Professor Escalona?
7 ¿Cómo te ha ido hoy? – How’s today been?
Let’s say you go for lunch with a friend and you wanna catch up, well, you might say ‘¿Cómo te ha ido hoy?, to ask how your friend’s day has been.
Following the same logic as the previous example, you can use ‘le’ for a more formal approach: ‘¿Cómo le ha ido hoy?’.
And if you’re addressing more than one person, make sure to use ‘¿Cómo les ha ido hoy?’ instead!
8 ¿Qué tal pinta el día? – How’s the day looking? (colloquial)
In the same scenario, you’d sound more casual saying ‘¿qué tal pinta el día’.
But wait: wasn’t ‘pintar’ the verb for ‘to paint’?
Well, yeah, but ‘pintar’ is also a colloquial way of saying ‘to appear’ or ‘to seem’, so the best way to translate this phrase to English would be ‘How’s the day looking?’.
En un mensaje de texto
Alfonso – ¿Qué tal pinta el día? ¿Sí crees poder ir a la fiesta esta noche?
Rosi – Sí, yo creo que sí lo logro.
In a text message
Alfonso – How’s the day looking? Do you think you’ll be able to come to the party tonight?
Rosi – Yeah, I think I can make it.
Final thoughts
And that’s all, folks! You now have plenty of ways to say ‘how was your day’ in Spanish up your sleeve!
I know the formal ‘you’ may feel a bit overwhelming at first, so I recommend that you start off simple.
Maybe just use one or two of the informal versions (trust me, no-one’s gonna get angry with a language learner for not using the formal “usted”) and, once you get the hang of it, you can start throwing ‘usted’ about!
Oh, and if you’re interested in mastering other puzzling pronouns in Spanish, definitely check out the differences between ‘tu’ and ‘ti’.
