Greetings and polite words

These are the first words you will use every day. Learn them as whole phrases: you don't need any grammar to use them.

Saying hello

• Hola (OH-lah, the h is silent) = hello, hi. You can use it with anyone, at any time of day.
• Buenos días = good morning. In Spain, people use it until lunchtime, which is often around 2 p.m.
• Buenas tardes = good afternoon or good evening. In Spain, from lunch until it gets dark or until dinner time (roughly 8 or 9 p.m.).
• Buenas noches = good evening or good night. Late in the evening, both to say hello and to say goodbye.
• Buenas = a short, casual "hi" at any time.

People often combine them: Hola, buenos días.

• Hola, buenos días.Hello, good morning.
• Buenas tardes, señora.Good afternoon, madam.
• Buenas noches, hasta mañana.Good night, see you tomorrow.

Why buenos días but buenas tardes? In Spanish, words for things are either "masculine" or "feminine" (a grammar label, explained in Masculine and feminine nouns). Día (day) is masculine, so buenos; tarde (afternoon) and noche (night) are feminine, so buenas. The phrases are also plural: literally "good days", "good afternoons".

How are you?

• ¿Qué tal? = How's it going? Very common and friendly.
• ¿Cómo estás? = How are you? (to a friend)
• ¿Cómo está usted? = How are you? (polite; see Tú or usted; vosotros or ustedes)

Answers: Bien (fine, well), Muy bien (very well), Regular (so-so), Mal (bad). Then return the question: ¿Y tú? (And you?).

• ¿Qué tal?How's it going?
• ¿Cómo estás?How are you?
• Bien, gracias. ¿Y tú?Fine, thanks. And you?
• Muy bien, gracias.Very well, thank you.

Please and thank you

• Por favor = please.
• Gracias = thank you. Muchas gracias = thank you very much.
• De nada = you're welcome (literally "of nothing").
• Perdón = sorry, excuse me. You will also hear perdone (polite) and perdona (to a friend).

• Un café, por favor.A coffee, please.
• Muchas gracias.Thank you very much.
• De nada.You're welcome.

Saying goodbye

• Adiós = goodbye.
• Hasta luego = see you later. In Spain this is a very common everyday goodbye, even to a shop assistant you may never see again.
• Hasta mañana = see you tomorrow. Hasta pronto = see you soon.
• Chao = bye (casual).

• Adiós, hasta luego.Goodbye, see you later.

In Spain and Latin America

In Spain, friends and new acquaintances often greet with two light kisses on the cheeks (dos besos), one on each side; men usually shake hands with each other. In many Latin American countries a single kiss on the cheek is common. Chao is used in Spain among friends, and chao or chau is very common in Latin America. In much of Latin America people switch from buenos días to buenas tardes around midday, since lunch is usually earlier than in Spain.

Common mistakes

• Buenos tardes or buenas días: it is buenos días but buenas tardes, buenas noches.
• Using buenas noches at 6 p.m. in Spain: that's still buenas tardes.
• Pronouncing the h of hola or hasta: both start with a vowel sound.
• Answering gracias with por favor: the reply is de nada.