The English phrase ‘I hope you’re well’ is pretty darn useful, don’t you think?
But what’s the Spanish equivalent?
Well, just as in English, this useful little phrase has MANY different variations in Spanish!
With that in mind, I present to you 8 different alternatives (yes, 8!!!), so that you’re sure to have something up your sleeve for every occasion.
Let’s dive right into it!
KEY TAKEAWAYS
‘I hope you’re well’ is usually phrased in the following ways –
1. Espero que estés bien (informal ‘tú’ form) = I hope you’re well
2. Espero que esté bien (formal ‘usted’ form) = I hope you’re well
3. Espero que te encuentres bien = I hope you’re well
4. Espero todo esté bien = I hope all is well
1 Espero que estés bien – I hope (that) you are well
‘Espero que estés bien’ is one of the most common ways to say ‘I hope you’re well’ in Spanish.
There are quite a few variations of this phrase, so let’s quickly break it down:
espero (I hope) + que (that) + estés (you’re) + bien (well)
In this case, the verb ‘estar’ is conjugated in the informal ‘tú’ form (i.e., estés).
Also note that ‘espero que’ is ALWAYS followed by a subjunctive!
El inicio de un correo electrónico
Hola, Mariana. Espero que estés bien. Me gustaría saber si tienes algún comentario sobre la presentación que envié la semana pasada.
The opening lines of an email
Hi Mariana. I hope you are well. I’d like to know if you have any feedback on the presentation I sent you last week.
2 Espero que esté bien (formal) – I hope (that) you are well
As you may know, the Spanish language has two versions of the pronoun ‘you’, the informal ‘tú’ (or ‘vos’ in Argentina and Paraguay) and the formal ‘usted’.
In this particular case, you only need to remove the ‘s’ from ‘estés’ (i.e., ‘espero que esté bien’), and you get a very formal phrase which you can use whenever you speak to authorities, elders or anyone with whom you wanna be extra polite.
El inicio de una carta a un funcionario público
Estimado Lic. González, espero que esté bien. Le escribo para dar continuidad a la solicitud de mi colonia para la repavimentación de nuestras calles.
The beginning of a letter to a public official
Dear Mr. González, I hope you are well. I am writing to follow up on my neighborhood’s request to have our streets resurfaced.
3 Espero estés bien – I hope you’re well
Been wondering exactly how necessary that ‘que’ (or ‘that’) is in ‘espero que estés bien’?
Well, I have some good news … you CAN actually just leave it out!
Although the Royal Academy of the Spanish Language considers the former a more “proper” version, it doesn’t frown upon the latter (i.e., ‘espero estés bien’).
Un mensaje directo en una red social
¡Qué onda*, Fabián! Me dio gusto encontrarte en redes; espero estés bien.
A DM on a social network
What’s up, Fabián! I’m so pleased I found you on social media; I hope you’re well.
* Erika’s top tip – ‘qué onda’ is a fun and casual Mexican greeting that means ‘what’s up’.
4 Espero te encuentres bien – I hope you’re well
‘Encontrarse’ is a reflexive verb that literally translates as ‘to find yourself’ … but don’t get your knickers in a twist about its existential connotations just yet as it can also sometimes mean ‘to be’!
‘Espero te encuentres bien’ therefore translates to ‘I hope you’re well’ or even ‘I hope this finds you well’.
Un mensaje de Whatsapp
Hola, Emanuel, ¿cómo está todo? Espero te encuentres bien después de la cirugía.
A Whatsapp message
Hello, Emanuel, how’s everything? I hope you’re doing well after your surgery.
5 Espero que te vaya bien – I hope everything’s going well
The phrase ‘espero que te vaya bien’ means ‘I hope everything’s going well’ or ‘I hope everything goes well’.
‘Que te vaya bien’ is also an extremely common and courteous farewell … if you’ve ever been to Mexico, you’re sure to have heard it!
En una tarjeta de Navidad
Querida Xóchitl, espero que te vaya muy bien en Los Cabos. Nosotros te extrañamos, pero estamos felices por ti*.
In a Christmas card
Dear Xóchitl, I hope everything’s going well in Los Cabos. We miss you, but we’re happy for you.
Erika’s top tip – ‘ti‘ is what we call a “prespositional pronoun”, NOT to be confused with ‘tu‘ and ‘tú‘.
6 Espero todo esté bien – I hope all’s well
Want to translate the English, ‘I hope all is well’?
Well, the phrase you’re looking for is ‘espero todo esté bien’.
En un mensaje de cumpleaños a un amigo cercano
¡Qué pex, wey! ¡Feliz cumpleaños! Espero todo esté bien contigo y tu familia. ¿Cuándo festejamos?
In a birthday message to a close friend
What’s up, bro! Happy birthday! I hope all’s well with you and your family. When do we celebrate?
7 Espero la estés pasando bien – I hope you’re having a good time
If you wanna sound a bit more effusive, you can also say, ‘Espero la estés pasando bien’.
‘Pasarla bien’ is a SUPER useful phrase similar to the English ‘to have a good time’ or ‘to have fun’.
In Spain they use the pronoun ‘lo’ instead of the ‘la’ used in much of Latin America.
Espero la estés pasando increíble en tus vacaciones. ¿Ya fuiste a la playa? ¡No olvides mandar fotos!
I hope you’re having an amazing time on your vacation. Have you been to the beach yet? Don’t forget to send pictures!
8 – Ojalá estés bien – I hope you’re okay
‘Ojalá’ translates to ‘I hope’ or ‘hopefully’ and it’s an extremely common word in Spanish.
So, ‘ojalá estés bien’ is a bit like the English ‘I hope you’re okay / well’.
Just keep in mind that this one has more of an informal ring to it, so only whip it out in more casual interactions.
En un mensaje de voz
Ojalá estés bien, mi amor. Solo te llamaba para avisarte que la cena se movió una hora después, a las ocho de la noche.
In a voice message
I hope you’re okay, my love. I was just calling to let you know that dinner got moved to an hour later, it’s gonna be at 8PM.
Final thoughts
You’re now a bone-fide expert in all things ‘I hope you’re well’ in Spanish! Yippee!
Hopefully you’ll try a couple of your newly learnt phrases out the next time you write a message to your Spanish-speaking friends.
Oh, and if you wanna further expand your Spanish phrase repertoire, shimmy across to our article on all the different ways to ask someone what they do for work in Spanish.
Trust me when I say that it’s gonna come in handy!
¡Nos vemos en la próxima!
