Greetings in Spanish
The essential greetings in Spanish are hola (hello), buen día (good morning), buenas tardes (good afternoon), buenas noches (good evening or night), and chau (bye). Add the friendly question that opens most conversations: ¿Cómo estás?
Below you’ll find the full chart with pronunciation, please and thank you, a short note on formal greetings, and a free printable chart to hang where the family gathers.
Hello and how are you
| Spanish | Say it | English |
|---|---|---|
| hola | O-la | hi / hello |
| buen día | bwen DEE-a | good morning |
| buenas tardes | BWE-nas TAR-des | good afternoon |
| buenas noches | BWE-nas NO-ches | good evening / good night |
| ¿Qué tal? | ke TAL | how's it going? (friendly) |
| ¿Cómo estás? | KO-mo es-TAS | how are you? |
| Bien, ¿y tú? | byen ee TOO | fine, and you? |
Two quick notes. The h in hola is silent, so it is O-la. And Me llamo(“my name is”) is said me YA-mo: the ll sounds like the y in “yes,” the same sound as in lluvia (rain).
Goodbye, please, and thank you
| Spanish | Say it | English |
|---|---|---|
| adiós | a-DYOS | goodbye |
| chau | CHOW | bye |
| hasta mañana | AS-ta ma-NYA-na | see you tomorrow |
| hasta luego | AS-ta LWE-go | see you later |
| por favor | por fa-VOR | please |
| gracias | GRA-syas | thank you |
| de nada | de NA-da | you're welcome |
| Me llamo… | me YA-mo | my name is… |
buen día, not just buenos días
Textbooks teach buenos días, and it works everywhere. You will also hear the singular buen día in many countries. Our chart uses buen día; both are correct.
¿Y tú?
The friendly bounce-back is ¿y tú? (“and you?”). With a teacher or another adult, kids can switch to the polite ¿y usted? Same question, one notch more formal.
chau is secretly Italian
Chau comes straight from the Italian ciao, and you will hear it in many Spanish-speaking countries. Kids love that one word of their new Spanish is secretly Italian.
A polite notch up: the formal greeting
With an adult they do not know, kids can shift one notch up to the usted form and ask ¿Cómo está? instead of ¿Cómo estás? Same question, more formal. For most young children, a warm hola and a smile is plenty; the formal version is there for the moments that call for it.
How we practice at home: the breakfast greeting
Greetings are the easiest words to make automatic, because families already greet each other every day. Give the morning hello a Spanish version and let it become the family ritual:
—¡Buen día! ¿Cómo estás?
—¡Bien! ¿Y tú?
(“Good morning! How are you? Fine! And you?”) Make this the official breakfast greeting, and close the day with buenas noches and hasta mañana at bedtime. Two exchanges a day, the same words each time. Repetition is the whole curriculum.
- 1
Print the chart and hang it where breakfast happens. Visibility beats discipline.
- 2
Greet in Spanish every morning. ¡Buen día! ¿Cómo estás? Same words, same moment.
- 3
Close the day with buenas noches. Add hasta mañana at bedtime once the morning hello is easy.
- 4
Let your child greet YOU first. Starting the exchange is harder than answering, and more fun.
Get the free printable chart
One beautiful page: hello, goodbye, please, thank you, and the friendly ¿Cómo estás? with pronunciation and the breakfast greeting. Print it, tape it up, and the greetings teach themselves.
Download the Chart (Free PDF)Everything for this unit
Everything for greetings in one place
How to pronounce them
Greetings are short and forgiving. Your pronunciation does not need to be perfect; it needs to be brave. Your child is listening to your willingness, not your accent.
hola (O-la)
The h is silent in Spanish, so you never hear it. Just O-la, warm and open.
Me llamo (me YA-mo)
The ll sounds like the y in “yes,” so it is me YA-mo. Same sound as mayo and amarillo.
Questions parents ask
What are basic greetings in Spanish?
The essentials are hola (hi), buen día (good morning), buenas tardes (good afternoon), buenas noches (good evening or night), and chau (bye). The friendly opener that starts most conversations is ¿Cómo estás? (how are you?).
What's the difference between buenos días and buen día?
They mean the same thing. Textbooks usually teach the plural buenos días, and it works everywhere in the Spanish-speaking world. You will also hear the singular buen día in many countries. Our chart uses buen día; both are correct, so use whichever one your child hears most.
What are formal greetings in Spanish?
With an adult they do not know, kids can move one polite notch up to the usted form: ¿Cómo está? instead of ¿Cómo estás? It is the same question, just more formal. For young children, hola plus a smile is almost always enough.
How do you say goodbye in Spanish?
The standard goodbye is adiós, and the friendly everyday one is chau, which comes from the Italian ciao. For see you later say hasta luego, and for see you tomorrow say hasta mañana. Kids love that chau is secretly an Italian word.
How do you respond to ¿Cómo estás?
The natural answer is Bien, gracias. ¿Y tú? (Fine, thanks. And you?). With an adult, use the polite version: Bien, gracias. ¿Y usted?
Where greetings show up next
Greetings are the perfect first Spanish for the youngest kids, because they are short, warm, and used a dozen times a day. From here, slot them into the daily rhythm with the full year-one plan, or start even earlier with the preschool path.