Translation of "checking in" and "following up" (on/with someone)

Question

In English, there are two related phrases that I haven't found an idiomatic Spanish translation for: "to check in (on someone)" and "to follow up (with someone)."

Some examples of what I mean:

1. I send someone an email and don't hear back for several days. In the second email, I might say something like "I'm just checking in to see what you thought about (whatever I asked in the first email)" or "I just wanted to follow up on the email I sent last week."

2. A friend is sick and we haven't talked for a few days, so I call and say, "I just wanted to check in on how you are doing." He might then call the doctor and say, "I'm following up to see if the test results are in."

These might all be slightly different concepts, but they all seem related to the idea of talking to someone a second time, referencing a conversation/correspondence in the past.

Is there a word or phrase in Spanish that has the same range of meaning as these English phrases? If not, what would be the most natural way in Spanish to express the sentences in the examples above?

Answer 1

Well you are asking for translations of two expressions here, I will address them separately.

For "To follow up" you could use "Darle seguimiento". In my experience it is more common in working environments but it does work on any other context. Using your own examples:

I just wanted to follow up on the email I sent last week.
Solo quería darle seguimiento al correo que te envié la semana pasada.

I'm following up to see if the test results are in.
Le estoy dando seguimiento para ver si ya llegaron los resultados.

For "To check in on someone" I do not think there is an idiomatic expression in Spanish for that. Some people commonly say "Querer ver". Again using your own examples you could say something like:

I'm just checking in to see what you thought about ...
Sólo quería ver que opinas acerca de ....

I just wanted to check in on how you are doing.
Sólo quería ver como sigues.

Answer 2

The exact way this will be expressed depends on the context. Here are some examples.

1 Hola, Manuel, quería chequear si has podido echar un ojo al borrador que te mandé el lunes. [Hi Manuel, I wanted to check whether you've had a chance to take a look at the draft I sent you Monday.]

2 Hola Sarita, quería chequear cómo sigues. [Hi Sarita, I wanted to check how you're doing (in comparison with the last time we spoke).]

Answer 3

Seguimiento, Revisar, Confirmar, Verificar, Cotejar...