Greetings and goodbyes in Spanish
10 words Spanish words on the topic “greetings and goodbyes”: hola — hello, buenos días — good morning, buenas tardes — good afternoon, buenas noches — good evening (good night). 10 words can be played from recordings.
10 words on the topic
- holahellothe h is silent: OH-lah
- buenos díasgood morningLiterally 'good days', in the plural: Spanish wishes you all of them at once. Said until midday
- buenas tardesgood afternoonFrom lunchtime until dark
- buenas nochesgood evening (good night)One phrase for arriving late in the evening and for leaving for the night — then it means good night
- adiósgoodbyeFrom 'a Dios' — 'to God': a farewell commending someone to God. For long partings; for 'see you soon' they say hasta luego
- hasta luegosee you laterIn Spain this is the everyday goodbye, said more often than adiós
- ¿cómo estás?how are you?Built on estar — to be in a state. It asks how you are right now, not how life is in general
- ¿cómo está?how are you? (formal)The usted twin of cómo estás: the -s drops, and the verb agrees with usted — literally 'your mercy' — not with the person in front of you
- ¿qué tal?how's it going?Literally 'how is it?'. Lighter and shorter than ¿cómo estás? — it fits strangers and friends alike
- chaobyeFrom Italian ciao, but in Spanish it's only for parting, never for greeting. Also spelled chau. Adiós is heavier; hasta luego is 'see you later'
How it sounds in a sentence
A word list is a blank. Conversation is made of sentences, and these are the ones the words fit into most often.
- ¡Hola! ¿Qué tal el fin de semana?Hi! How was the weekend?
- Buenos días, ¿ya está abierta la panadería?Good morning, is the bakery open yet?
- Buenas tardes, ¿tiene mesa para dos?Good afternoon, do you have a table for two?
- Buenas noches, hasta mañanaGood night, see you tomorrow
- Adiós, que te vaya bienGoodbye, take care
- Me voy ya. ¡Hasta luego!I'm leaving now. See you later!
What is worth knowing about these words
hola — hello. Works at any hour of the day and with anyone — unlike the more specific buenos días
buenos días — good morning. Literally 'good days', in the plural: Spanish wishes you all of them at once. Said until midday
buenas tardes — good afternoon. From lunchtime until dark
buenas noches — good evening (good night). One phrase for arriving late in the evening and for leaving for the night — then it means good night
Test yourself
First by ear — the way you will meet the word in conversation. Click the speaker and pick the translation.
- What is this word?
It is hola — hello.
- What is this word?
It is ¿cómo está? — how are you? (formal).
- What is this word?
It is adiós — goodbye.
- What is this word?
It is buenos días — good morning.
- What is this word?
It is ¿qué tal? — how's it going?.
Now the other way around: recall the spelling from the meaning. That is harder, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “hello” in Spanish?
Works at any hour of the day and with anyone — unlike the more specific buenos días
- How do you say “how are you? (formal)” in Spanish?
The usted twin of cómo estás: the -s drops, and the verb agrees with usted — literally 'your mercy' — not with the person in front of you
- How do you say “goodbye” in Spanish?
From 'a Dios' — 'to God': a farewell commending someone to God. For long partings; for 'see you soon' they say hasta luego
- How do you say “good morning” in Spanish?
Literally 'good days', in the plural: Spanish wishes you all of them at once. Said until midday
- How do you say “how's it going?” in Spanish?
Literally 'how is it?'. Lighter and shorter than ¿cómo estás? — it fits strangers and friends alike
How to learn the set instead of just reading it
Every conversation starts here, and so does every first impression: say hello in the local language and you stop being a stranger in about a second.
A list is read in a minute and forgotten in a day. What works: hide the translation, try to recall, get it wrong — and come back to the same words tomorrow.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- This holds not only in experiments but in ordinary classrooms, with real students.checked many timesMawson & Kang, 2025, Behavioral Sciences 15(6):771 · 22 studies, d = 0.54 (confidence interval 0.31–0.77). The authors warn that individual studies disagree widely.
Frequently asked
How do you say “hello” in Spanish?
«hola». the h is silent: OH-lah. It is one of 10 words in the set “greetings and goodbyes” — the rest are in the table above.
How many greetings do you need to start?
A dozen is enough. The set of 10 words on this page covers nearly every everyday case on the topic — but it is best taken a few at a time, not all at once.
Is there audio?
Yes, 10 words on this page can be played — click the speaker next to the word. The sound works on any phone, and nothing needs to be installed.