How are you? v. How are you?

How do you know which way to ask:

Comó estas? or Comó estas tú?

Hola KathyL24,

They are both correct and of course in the informal.The tú  is for emphasis and could be thought of as: I'm fine and  how are YOU? Emphasis, not shouting. Also estás, don't forget the accent which is the verb, esta is the adjective.

Saludos,

Ricardo

¡Hola KathyL24 y Ricardo!

Just to chime in on what Ricardo has said: you can find explanations about dropped pronouns in Spanish and some example sentences in two Level 1 lessons, which you'll see below.

• Lesson 1.11 “'You,' ‘He’ and Other Pronouns” (under the heading “Vanishing Pronouns”)
• Lesson 1.12 "'To Be' Part 1: The Verb SER" (under the heading “Drop the Subject”)

I hope that this is helpful!

Saludos,

Liss