Read about informal greetings in Spanish. Learn how to say hi and hello, as well as other greetings in Spanish, like good morning, good evening, and Merry Christmas.
Updated: 11/21/2023
Informal Greetings in Spanish | Uses & Examples
Table of Contents
- Informal Greetings in Spanish
- Special Occasions
- Letter and Email Greetings
- Greetings in Conversation
- Lesson Summary
It is important to know and understand how to use and say informal greetings in Spanish in order to have a fluent conversation with Spanish speakers. There are many ways to greet someone in Spanish and people choose the phrase to use depending on the time, date, place, and the person being greeted.
Some common informal greetings in Spanish used by Spanish speakers are shown in the sections below.
Saying Hello in Spanish
The main greeting phrases a Spanish learner should remember are "hello" and "hi" in Spanish. Simply saying "hello" or "hi" is a simple and great way to greet someone. It is important to understand the way the greeting phrases are being said (i.e., tone of voice, facial expression, body gesture, speed in which the phrase is said, etc.). Spanish speakers like to express emotions through their greetings. For example, if a person is happy to see the other person, then the tone of their voice will show the emotion of happiness and excitement. Otherwise, it would sound more natural, or they may even drag the words to show annoyance. would show the rules for using exclamation and question marks when writing in Spanish.
The most commonly used tone of greeting is excitement. To show happiness and excitement in writing, exclamation points should be used. Otherwise, the reader may interpret the greeting in a different way. An upside-down exclamation point is used at the beginning of the phrase (¡) while a regular exclamation point is placed at the end of the sentence (!). The upside-down exclamation point at the beginning of the phrase tells the reader right away that there is excitement. To show greater excitement, Spanish speakers use up to three exclamation points per phrase.
- ¡Hola! (OH-lah) - "Hello!" or "Hi!"
- ¡Buenos días! (BWEH-nohs DEE-ahs) - "Good morning!"
- ¡Buenas tardes! (BWEH-nohs TAHR-dehs) - "Good afternoon!" or "Good evening!"
- ¡Buenas noches! (BWEH-nahs NOH-chehs) - "Good night!"
Some words in Spanish are said to be feminine or masculine. Notice that hola is neutral, even though it ends in '-a.' Thus, it is incorrect to say la hola or el hola meaning "the hello" or "the hi" in English. The words días and noches can be confusing for Spanish learners. Notice that even though días may look like a feminine word, it is masculine. In this case, los is used to say the days. Some Spanish-speaking countries use los and greet others by saying, te doy los buenos días meaning "I give you the good days." On the other hand, the word noches is feminine and people may use las buenas noches to mean "the good nights." This is also the reason why buenos (the masculine form of the word) is used with días and buenas (the feminine form of the word) is used with noches.
How Are You?
It is also common for Spanish speakers to greet someone with a question. The following expressions demonstrate how to ask someone how they are in Spanish:
- ¿Como estás? (KOH-moh ehs-TAHS) - "How are you?"
- ¿Qué tal? (keh tahl) - "What's up?"
- ¿Cómo te va? (KOH-moh teh vah) - "How's it going?"
The following expressions are commonly used to reply to the questions above:
- Muy bien. (mwee byehn) - "Very well"
- Bien (byehn) meaning - "Well"
- Más o menos (mahs oh meh-NOHS) - "More or less"
- No muy bien (noh mooee byehn) - "Not very well"
- Mal (mahl) - "Bad"
It is part of the culture of most Spanish-speaking countries to respond to the question about how they are and follow it with a thank you which is translated as gracias in Spanish. Then, the person should return the question with and you? which is translated to ¿y tú? in Spanish. For example, instead of just saying Muy bien, a Spanish speaker would say Muy bien, gracias. ¿Y tú? which means "Very well, thank you. And you?" in English.
Saying Goodbye in Spanish
Saying goodbye is just as it is important as saying "hello." The following phrases are commonly used to say goodbye to someone in Spanish:
- ¡Adiós! (ah-DYHOS) - "Goodbye!"
- ¡Hasta luego! (AHS-tah LWEH-goh) - "See you later!"
- ¡Hasta pronto! (AHS-tah PROHN-toh) or ¡Nos vemos pronto! (nohs veh-mohs PROHN-toh) - "See you soon!"
- ¡Nos vemos otro día! (nohs veh-mohs oh-troh DYHO) - "See you another day!"
- ¡Nos vemos! (nohs veh-mohs) - "See you!"
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Part of the culture of Spanish-speaking countries is to celebrate the holidays with big parties. The following examples of greetings are based on holidays and special occasions:
Christmas:
- ¡Feliz Navidad! (feh-LEES nah-bee-DAHD) - "Merry Christmas!"
- ¡Felices fiestas! (feh-LEE-sehs fyehs-TAHS) - "Happy Holidays!"
- ¡Feliz Año Nuevo! (feh-LEES AH-nyoh NWEH-boh) - "Happy New Year!"
Easter
- ¡ Felices Pascuas! (feh-LEE-sehs PAHS-kwahs) - "Happy Easter!"
Vacation
- ¡Feliz vacaciones! (feh-LEES bah-kah-SYOHN-ehs) - "Happy vacation!"
- ¡Disfruta tus vacaciones! (dees-froo-TAH tuhs bah-kah-SYOHN-ehs) - "Enjoy your vacation!"
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The following greetings and closings in Spanish are used in letters and emails.
- Querido (keh-ree-doh) (masculine) or Querida (keh-ree-dah) (feminine) - "Dear..."
- Un abrazo (uhn ah-BRAH-soh) - "A hug"
- Besos (BEH-sohs) - "Kisses"
- Con amor (kohn ah-MOHR) - "With love"
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The following is a Spanish conversation between two friends that are greeting each other after years many years apart.
- Luis: ¡Buenos días, Miguel! ("Good morning, Miguel!")
- Miguel: ¡Hola Luis, como estas? ("Hello, Luis! How are you?")
- Luis: Muy bien, gracias. ¿Y tú? ("Very well, thank you. And you?")
- Miguel: Bien, gracias. Me agradó verte. ¡Hasta pronto! ("Well, thank you. It was nice seeing you. See you soon!")
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Spanish speakers use many greeting phrases to say hola meaning "hello" or "hi" in Spanish. The most commonly used tone of greeting is excitement. Thus, exclamation points are commonly used when writing greeting phrases. Phrases like ¡Buenas tardes! meaning "Good afternoon!" or "Good evening!" and ¡Buenas noches meaning "Good night!" are common greetings.
Sometimes, Spanish speakers use a question to greet someone. For example, the phrase ¿Como estás? meaning ("How are you?") can be a greeting. The person being greeted should reply with an answer followed by a "thank you". For example, the person may reply Muy bien, gracias. which means "Very well, thank you." Saying goodbye with a phrase like ¡Hasta luego! meaning "See you later!" is also important. For holidays and special occasions, the phrase ¡Felices fiestas! meaning "Happy Holidays!" is commonly used. Finally, when greeting someone through letters and emails, it is important to use the phrase Querido (masculine) or Querida (feminine) meaning ("Dear...").
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Greetings
Are you planning to travel to South America or Spain? Have you got any Spanish-speaking friends and you want to surprise them by using their native language? In any case, it will be useful to learn some basic and common Spanish phrases. In this lesson, we focus on informal greetings — that is, how to say 'hello', 'how are you', and 'goodbye' in Spanish in friendly and familiar contexts. Also, we take a look at different expressions used on special occasions, such as Christmas time.
Saying 'Hello' in Spanish
- ¡Hola! This is probably the very first word everyone learns in Spanish. Hola (pronounced: OH-lah — the 'h' is silent!) means 'hello', and you can use it to greet anyone in any context or situation and at any time of the day.
Note: In Spanish, we use exclamation (¡!) and question marks (¿?) both at the beginning and at the end of the sentence. So, don't forget to include the initial mark when writing to someone.
There are other ways of greeting people depending on the time of the day:
- ¡Buenos días! (pronounced: BWEH-nohs DEE-ahs) This expression means 'good morning' and you can use in the morning and until noon.
- ¡Buenas tardes! (pronounced: BWEH-nahs TAHR-dehs) Literally, 'good afternoon'. You can use this formula as an equivalent of 'good afternoon' or 'good evening', from 12 pm until the nightfall.
- ¡Buenas noches! (pronounced: BWEH-nahs NOH-chehs) Literally, 'good night'. It would be appropriate to use it when greeting someone after sunset, and also before going to bed.
Note: Días is a masculine noun in Spanish, whereas tardes and noches are feminine. That's why the adjective is different (buenos for masculine nouns and buenas for feminine nouns).
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How Are you?
Use the following expressions to ask people how they are:
- ¿Cómo estás? (pronounced: KOH-moh ehs-TAHS) We use this expression when talking to people we know well and in friendly and informal contexts.
Other variations include:
- ¿Qué tal? (pronounced: keh tahl) This is an informal way of asking someone how they are, similar to the English expression 'What's up?'
- ¿Cómo andas? (pronounced: KOH-moh AHN-dahs) It is translated as 'How's it going?'
Now you should learn how to reply to these questions. If you are feeling great, say muy bien (mwee byehn), meaning 'very well', or just bien (byehn), which means 'well'.
If you are feeling so-so, reply más o menos (mahs oh MEH-nohs), meaning 'more or less'.
If you are feeling a bit under the weather, you could say no muy bien (noh mwee byehn), meaning 'not very well', or mal (mahl), which means 'bad'.
Always add gracias (GRAH-syahs) or 'thank you' at the end and return the question with ¿Y tú? (ee too), to ask 'and you?'
Saying Goodbye in Spanish
You have had a good time with your friends, but now it is time to say goodbye. You say:
- ¡Adiós! (pronounced: ah-DYOHS) This is the equivalent of 'goodbye' and you can use it in all contexts and situations.
If you know you will see someone again soon, you could use these expressions instead:
| Spanish | Pronunciation | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| ¡Hasta luego! | (AHS-tah LWEH-goh) | See you later! |
| ¡Hasta pronto! | (AHS-tah PROHN-toh) | See you soon! |
| ¡Hasta otro día! | (AHS-tah OH-troh DEE-ah) | See you another day! |
| ¡Nos vemos! | (nohs BEH-mohs) | See you! |
 |
Special Occasions
It is useful to learn some specific greetings for special occasions throughout the year as well.
Christmas
Around the Christmas season, you could use all these expressions to greet your friends and acquaintances:
- ¡Feliz Navidad! (feh-LEES nah-BEE-dahd): Merry Christmas!
- ¡Felices fiestas! (feh-LEE-sehs FYEHS-tahs): Happy holidays! You can use this expression in a more general sense to wish happy celebrations during the Christmas season.
- ¡Feliz Año Nuevo! (feh-LEES AH-nyoh NWEH-boh): Happy New Year!
 |
Easter
Wish your friends a happy Easter with this expression:
- ¡Feliz Semana Santa! (feh-LEES seh-MAH-nah SAHN-tah: Happy Easter! - literally 'Happy Holy Week!')
Vacation
If your friends or colleagues are about to go on vacation, say:
- ¡Felices vacaciones! (feh-LEE-sehs bah-kah-SYOH-nehs): Happy vacation!
- ¡Disfruta (de) tus vacaciones! (dee-FROO-tah deh toos bah-kah-SYOH-nehs): Enjoy your vacation!
 |
Letter & Email Greetings
If you don't have the chance to see your friends face to face, you could send them a letter or email and make their day. In informal contexts, you could introduce your letters with the following expressions:
- Querido/Querida/Queridos/Queridas + name of your friend: (keh-REE-doh/keh-REE-dah/keh-REE-dohs/keh-REE-dahs): 'Dear...,'
Note: Use querido with masculine nouns and names and querida with feminine ones and the plural forms (queridos/queridas) when addressing more than one person.
After having written your letter or email, finish up with:
- Un abrazo (oon ah-BRAH-soh): 'A hug'
- Besos (BEH-sohs): 'Kisses'
- Con cariño (kohn kah-REE-nyoh): 'With love'
Lesson Summary
In this lesson, we have covered the most common Spanish greetings used in informal and familiar contexts.
Say ¡Buenos días! during the morning and ¡Buenas tardes! after noon. At nightfall or before going to bed, say ¡Buenas noches!
If someone asks you how you are feeling (¿Cómo estás? or ¿Qué tal?), reply Muy bien, gracias, if you are feeling well, or Más o menos, if you are feeling so-so. Don't forget to ask ¿Y tú? in return.
For saying goodbye use ¡Adiós!, in a general sense, and ¡Hasta luego! or ¡Hasta pronto! if you know you will see them soon.
Around Christmas time, ¡Feliz Navidad! (Merry Christmas) and ¡Felices fiestas! (Happy holidays) are appropriate. Also, you can wish your friend a happy vacation by saying ¡Felices vacaciones!
When writing letters or emails, start with Querido/a/os/as (+ name) and end with Un abrazo (A hug), Besos (Kisses) or Con cariño (With love).
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Informal Greetings in Spanish | Uses & Examples
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