what is he like

We all know that “¿Cómo está él?” means “How is he?”. Here, we’re asking about his current state or emotion, if he’s well, sick, happy, sad, etc.

But the question “¿Cómo es él?” would also seem to be “How is he?”. Obviously, they both can’t be the same question, and they aren’t—we have two set questions to express those ideas: