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I often hear (or read in online chats) people say ¿Cómo ves?, typically after the end of an explanation of something.

What does this really mean? It's phrased as a question, but rarely does it seem that the speaker is actually soliciting a response.

Is this specifically a Mexican phrase, or is it used in other places?

Frecuentemente he leido (o visto en los chats online) a la gente decir '¿Cómo ves?', normalmente despues de explicar algo.

¿Qué significa esto realmente? Está formulada como una pregunta, pero raramente parece que el interlocutor esté realmente pidiendo una respuesta.

¿Es una frase específicamente mexicana, o se usa en otros lugares?

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  • En España tendría que ser o bien Cómo lo ves o bien Cómo ves XYZ. Cómo ves, a secas, no tiene sentido. Si preguntas eso así simplemente alguien te respondería "Pues con los ojos".
    – Diego
    Commented Oct 10, 2014 at 21:16

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I'm Mexican and it's a common phrase equivalent to "How about [x]?. It is used to propose something and see what's the opinion of the listener.

Examples:

Example 1:

A: ¿Cómo ves si mañana vamos al cine?

B: Me parece muy bien.

Example 2:

A: Mañana tengo planeado que primero vayamos al cine, después vayamos a visitar a mi mamá a su casa y en la noche salimos a cenar. ¿Cómo ves?

B: Pues yo preferiría no salir a cenar en la noche y mejor cenar en la casa de tu mamá.

Another common usage is just to ask an opinion about a situation or something:

A: Mi hijo hace ejercicio todas las mañanas para mantenerse en forma. ¿Cómo ves?

B: Qué bien, eso ademas es saludable.

Obviously is not a literal expression as the following example:

Example: If the expression were literal then it would be referring to what means do you use to see.

A: ¿Cómo ves?

B: ¡Pues con los ojos!

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I don't know if that's a Mexican phrase as it is, but I would say you probably mean "¿Cómo lo ves?", which is a literal translation to "How do you see it?" meaning "What do you think?".

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    It's clearly simply "cómo ves?" when it's written to me, but that doesn't mean it's not just a shortened form of "cómo lo ves?".
    – Flimzy
    Commented Mar 28, 2012 at 8:26
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    By the way, welcome to Spanish.SE! :)
    – Flimzy
    Commented Mar 28, 2012 at 8:34
  • thank you :) I did a quick search and found that it indeed is a shortened form of "cómo lo ves?", so there you got it. I think it probably has the same meaning as "how about that?" when used in a retorical manner (i.e. not actually expecting an answer).
    – M Rajoy
    Commented Mar 28, 2012 at 8:40
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    In Spain if you say "Cómo ves?" you're asking if the eyesight is good or not (as if you were in the ophthalmologist). We use "Como lo ves?" instead as kelmer says. Though we use "como ves" as a tag to say something like "as you can see".
    – Javi
    Commented Mar 28, 2012 at 10:35
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    In Colombia we say ¿Cómo lo ves? as in What do you think?/What's your opinion/Qué te parece?, etc. Sometimes this expression is purely rhetorical and sometimes you are actually expecting an answer; depending on the situation. Javi es un descarado, se fue a la casa de mi mamá con sus amigotes y desordenaron todo, ah, ¿cómo lo ves? -> In this context, you are just expressing your indignation and not necessarily expecting a comment or answer from the other party. El candidato para el puesto de redacción me pareció muy bueno. ¿Cómo lo ves? (tú) -> Here you are requesting an opinion.
    – Icarus
    Commented Mar 28, 2012 at 16:23

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