Learning how to say “Hello” or any greeting phrase is the most common thing if someone wants to learn a new language, including Spanish. Spanish also has a lot of ways to greet people, so here are ten ways that you can use to say “Hello” or greet someone in Spanish.
- Hello—Hola
Most people probably know the basic way to say “Hello” in Spanish, which is “Hola”. The word “Hola” is usually followed by other phrases like “good morning” or “good afternoon”. For example “Hola, buenos días” means “Hello, good morning” and “Hola, buenas tardes” which means “Hello, good afternoon”. It is important to note that the h is silent in those words.
If you want more ways to communicate in Spanish for a good time, check out Synergy Spanish. You can get more details about this course at SpanishEduRev.
- Good morning—Buenos días
Another way to greet someone in Spanish is by using the phrase “Buenos días” which means “Good morning”. You can use the phrase “Buenos días” until noon.
- Buenas tardes — Good afternoon
While the phrase “Buenos días” is used to greet someone until noon, the phrase “Buenas tardes” is used to greet someone in the afternoon. Some countries may use it differently. In most of the Latin American countries, they use it until the sunset. Meanwhile, in Spain, they use it until later in the evening.
- Good evening—Buenas noches
The phrase “Buenas tardes” means “Good evening” and also “Goodnight”.
- How are you?—¿Cómo está? (Formal)
It is a type of greeting to ask someone’s feelings formally. It is usually used for the elderly, someone who has authority, and business talk. The phrase “¿Cómo está” is used as a sign of respect. Specifically, in part of South American countries, they always use this one to be on the safe side.
- ¿Cómo estás?— How are you? (Informal)
As same as English, Spanish also has an informal way to say “How are you?” which is “¿Cómo estás?”. You can use this phrase to the person at the same age as you, or younger. The different part of informal versus formal phrase is the s at the end of the word.
- How are you?—¿Cómo están? (Plural)
Both greeting phrases before are addressed for a single person, but if you want to greet a group of people, you can use “¿Cómo están?.” The n at the end of the word shows that you greet everyone in the group.
- What’s up? —¿Qué pasa?
In English, the expression “What’s up” is used in an informal context, so does the expression “¿Qué pasa?” You can use it you people who are younger than you or to your friends. Typically, it is used to ask someone wheater there is something wrong or not.
- How’s it going? —¿Qué tal?
You can use “¿Qué tal?” with people in a non-formal context because it is considered an informal way of greeting.
- Hello?—¿Aló?
Those expressions are the way to greet someone in person, but how if you want to greet someone by phone? In Spanish, you can use “¿Aló?” which is similar to “Hello?” in English.
Finally, those are ten ways to say “Hello” in Spanish that you can use in various contexts of speaking. Good luck!
