Common Spanish Greetings and Farewells: List and Quiz - SpanishLearningLab (2024)

FAQs

What are the most common Spanish greetings? ›

Formal greetings in Spanish

Hola, ¿cómo está?

For verbal greeting, “¡Hola!” is used as a valid and neutral greeting almost any occasion yet on formal occasions, it will be more correct to use expressions like “¡Buenos días!”, “¡Buenas tardes!” and “¡Buenas noches!” which also can be used to say goodbye.

¡Hola! – pronounced without the “h” – is your safety net wherever you'll go: to a date, meeting or a Spanish-speaking country. This is the absolute basic greeting you need to know in Spanish and it can be used to salute any person regardless of the circ*mstance: formal or informal.

There are only two new words you need to remember: media and cuarto. If it's half past the hour in Spanish, use the phrase y media; If it's a quarter past the hour, use the phrase y cuarto; If it's a quarter until the hour, use the phrase menos cuarto.

What are the five forms of greeting? ›

This phrase means “how are you?” and can be used not only to find out how somebody is feeling, but can also be used as a way to say hello. If in passing someone says “hola!” to you, it would acceptable to reply: “como estas?”

If you'd like to say “Hello, how are you?” in Spanish, you can use “*Hola, ¿cómo estás?” (informal/singular). If you are greeting someone in a more formal setting, you'll want to use “Hola, ¿cómo está?” (formal/singular).

In Spain, people greet each other and say goodbye with a kiss on each cheek. Don't be mistaken – these aren't wet, sloppy kisses! In fact, these aren't really proper kisses at all. People usually touch their right cheeks together and make a kissing sound, then repeat the process on the left side.

Y tu is informal and Y Usted id formal. In Spanish we change the way we speak when talking to someone we have respect for and are an adult rather than our friends. When talking to an adult we use formal language when talking to our friends we use informal language. They both still mean the same thing.

If you are on the phone with a friend and you are about to hang up the most common expression you can use is “chao”, but if it's a more formal conversation, you better use “hasta luego”. Explanation: Chao is extremely informal and you want to use it only with close friends.

What are the 100 most used verbs in Spanish? ›

A handshake is the most common greeting when meeting someone for the first time or in professional settings. Handshakes should be firm and accompanied with direct eye contact throughout the greeting, especially in business contexts. Being the first person to offer your hand can reflect confidence.

Hola is the most common Spanish greeting. Although it's considered informal by some, in reality you can say it to your best friend or to a complete stranger. It's one of the best conversation starters in Spanish and it's usually followed by one of the questioning greetings included below. Hola, ¿cómo estás?

You can find it on a Client Contact, where you can define the appropriate greeting for each of your clients. For example, if the Client Contact Name is: Erna Miller, the greeting formula could be: “Hi Erna”, “Ahoy Erna”, “Hallo Erna”, “Dear Ms. Miller”, “Dear Lady Miller” etc.

Son las cinco y media. It's 7:30. Son las siete y media.

How do you say 1 10am in Spanish? ›

Es + la + una + y + number of minutes

“It's 1:10 a.m.” If you want to say any hour between two and twelve, you have to use the third person of the plural son, as follows: Son las tres de la mañana.

A handshake is universally accepted as a greeting, both formally and informally. An exchange of “hello” or “hi” is usually enough as a casual greeting among peers. Other cultures kiss each other on the cheek, once, twice or thrice together with a handshake or a brief hug.

adieu, adios, arrivederci, au revoir, auf wiedersehen, bye, bye-bye, cheerio, good day, good-by, good-bye, goodby, goodbye, sayonara, so long. a farewell remark. bon voyage, send-off.

It translates the English 'You're welcome' and it is polite to always use it whenever somebody thanks you. If you are fed up with using “prego” and want to try something different, you can reply using “di niente“, “non c'è di che“, “figurati” or “si figuri” if you want to be formal, or “ci mancherebbe“.

How do you answer if someone asks you, "¿Cómo estás?" or "How are you?"? The standard answer is probably "Bien" ("Fine") or "Muy bien" ("Very good"). Of course, both of those responses are often expanded: "Muy bien, gracias. ¿Y tú?" ("Quite well, thank you.

Interjection. de nada. think nothing of it, you're welcome, don't mention it, no worries.

As you may know, in Spanish there are two pronouns for the singular second person. Usted is reserved for formal treatment; the other one, tú, is used in informal settings. If you're in an informal setting, for example, speaking with a friend or a peer, then you will use Encantado de conocerte.

Buen is the apocopic (missing the final syllable) form of bueno, and means “good” or “fine.” Bien is an adverb. Buen/bueno is an adjective. If you remember this simple rule, bien vs bueno will become much easier to understand.

Should I use Bien or Bueno? ›

You use bien to answer when someone asks you how you are doing. Instead, you use the word bueno when someone asks you what you are like as far as personality goes. You are a good person and, thus, you use the word bueno, but only if you are a male. These are the two most basic uses of the two words.

Hasta Siempre – A Farewell in Spanish

Hasta siempre (literally “*ntil forever”) is not much used as it has a never-to-see-you-again connotation as a last goodbye.

This is the formal version of this phrase, which you would say to people you don't know very well. In a more casual setting, as when saying “Goodbye” to dear friends and family members, you could say, que tengas instead of que tenga.

There's no literal translation for órale in English. Instead, it can mean one of a few different expressions, such as: “o*kay”

When greeting someone in Mexico, it is customary to make physical contact, rather than simply saying “hello.” A handshake is the most common form of greeting between strangers, though friends will usually greet each other with a single kiss on the cheek. The same physical gestures are repeated when you say goodbye.

Goodbyes in Spanish: Basic Phrases. While there are many ways to say hello (as you'll see in the slang section soon), goodbye is pretty simple. Hasta luego, chao, adios, hasta mañana, and that's pretty much it.

From Old Spanish exquerdo, from Basque ezker (“left”).

More formal expressions to say goodbye in Spanish

Of course, adiós is a good option, but don't use adiós in Spanish forever. Here you have more choices: (Que tenga) Buenas noches = (Have a) good night.

Is Ciao Spanish for bye? ›

Chao is a Spanish word meaning goodbye. Ciao is Italian meaning hello or goodbye, pronounced as chao.