Spanish speakers of GAG a question for you?

[smahala1991]

I speak Spanish some times at work when running the register if I have someone who doesn’t understand English well. I’m not fluent but I know enough for business and what I learned in school. Is it better to say Como Estas or como esta Ustesd/Ustedes? I always use the latter because I feel it’s more professional.

[NathanDavis]

as it is in the Hispanic world... usually, you're more polite with those that are older, and could be more casual with the younger ones

however, as you're a host... the usual is to remain polite regardless of age, so I would agree with you, that it is just easier to keep it 100% professional and polite to simplify it and not trying to figure out ages and stuff, so...

another option would be.. "Cómo les va, come están?" which is a mix of of casual but still very polite...

[ChicoFromThe305]

Ustedes is usually used for more than one person, usually when speaking to a group but depending on culture and region it can be different, in general I think the best would be saying "como estas"

[IslaTheWitch]

usted/ustedes is polite, and I would go with it... but my Spanish is elementary, and I come from Europe, where official/polite forms are preferred :D

[Booklover_90]

Como estas is for your peers. Como usted is for people older than you. That’s what I remember from high school Spanish.