A greeting for any time of the day
“Hola” is a greeting suitable for any time of the day. This word can be translated into English as “hello” or “hi”.
Hola
Hi / Hello
About modern Spanish
Can you use the word “hola” with strangers?
“Hola” is a totally neutral greetings that you can use in formal and informal situations. You can say “hola” to your friends and to total strangers, at work and at home. Every time you enter a Spanish shop you will certainly hear a friendly “hola”.
Buenos días / buenas noches
Pay attention to these expressions. In Spanish, there are 3 greetings for each time of the day, the literal translation of which doesn’t always coincide with its actual meaning. It has to do with the fact that in Spain and in many countries of Latin America people start their day later than in other parts of the word and go to sleep later as well:
Buenos días
Good morning
The literal translation of this phrase is “good day” but it is usually used until 12 in the afternoon.
Buenas tardes
Good afternoon / Good evening
In most Spanish speaking countries, this greeting is used from 12pm to 8pm.
Buenas noches
Good evening / Good night
This greeting is usually used after 8pm. Besides, you can also say “buenas noches” to with somebody good night before going to sleep.
Spanish traditions
Can you say “buenos días” at 2pm?
In Spain, people use “buenos días” from the morning until they have lunch. If we take into account that lunchtime in Spain is usually at some point between 1pm and 3pm, you will hear “buenos días” even at 2.30pm. In other Spanish-speaking countries (Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, etc.), the greeting “buenos días” is used only until 12:00.
Farewells: adiós and hasta luego
It’s time to say goodbye. Here we would like to show you the two most common ways of saying goodbye. Let’s see their meaning and usage:
Adiós
Bye / Goodbye
Hasta luego
See you / Bye
About modern Spanish
Adiós vs Hasta luego
Both expressions can be used to say goodbye. However, for many Spanish people the word “adiós” means “goodbye forever”. After a serious fight with your friend you could say “adiós” and it would definitely sound like “I don’t want to see you ever again”. That’s why the words “hasta luego” are used more often. And one more thing: don’t say “Hasta la vista”. Nobody uses that apart from the Terminator.
Other forms of farewell
Let’s read and listen to other useful phrases and their equivalents in English.
Me tengo que ir
I have to go
In order to understand this expression better let’s reorganize the wordorder: Tengo que irme. The verb “Tengo que” means “I have to” and “irme” means “to go/to leave”.
Hasta mañana
See you tomorrow
It literally means “till tomorrow”.
Nos vemos
See you
Here we actually use the verb “to see” – ver. “Nos vemos” means “We see each other”.
Buen fin de semana
Have a nice weekend
Buen viaje
Have a nice trip
