Spanish Greetings
Spanish greetings depend on how well you know the person and on the time of day. Each entry below notes when it is used.
Everyday greetings
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Hola
OH-lah
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Hello
The h is silent. Works with anyone, at any hour
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Buenos días
BWEH-nohs DEE-ahs
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Good morning
From waking up until around lunch
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Buenas tardes
BWEH-nahs TAR-dehs
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Good afternoon
From lunch until dark, which can be 9pm in summer
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Buenas noches
BWEH-nahs NOH-chehs
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Good evening, good night
Both a hello after dark and a goodbye at bedtime
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Buenas
BWEH-nahs
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Hi
Casual shortening that works at any time of day
Asking how someone is
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¿Cómo estás?
KOH-moh es-TAHS
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How are you?
Informal, to someone you call tú
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¿Cómo está usted?
KOH-moh es-TAH oos-TEHD
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How are you?
Formal, to someone you call usted
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¿Qué tal?
keh tahl
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How's it going?
Light and friendly, fits almost anywhere
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¿Qué pasa?
keh PAH-sah
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What's up?
Between friends only
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Bien, gracias
byen GRAH-syahs
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Fine, thanks
The answer you will give most often
Meeting someone and saying goodbye
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Mucho gusto
MOO-choh GOOS-toh
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Nice to meet you
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Encantado
en-kan-TAH-doh
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Pleased to meet you
Say encantada if you are female
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Bienvenido
byen-veh-NEE-doh
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Welcome
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Adiós
ah-DYOHS
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Goodbye
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Hasta luego
AHS-tah LWEH-goh
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See you later
More common than adiós in everyday Spain
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Hasta mañana
AHS-tah mah-NYAH-nah
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See you tomorrow
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Nos vemos
nohs VEH-mohs
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See you around
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Chao
chow
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Bye
Very common in Latin America, borrowed from Italian
The tú and usted rule
Tú is for friends, family, children and people your own age. Usted is for strangers, officials, older people and anyone you want to show respect to.
The greeting follows the pronoun: ¿Cómo estás? goes with tú, ¿Cómo está usted? goes with usted.
Latin America leans more formal than Spain, where strangers move to tú quickly. If you are unsure, usted is never rude.
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