The first step to learning a new language is being familiar with its greetings and most basic phrases. Listed below are everyday expressions in Spanish words, with pronunciation guides, to help you enunciate them properly. Please be reminded that when written, the Spanish language uses both the inverted question mark (¿) and inverted exclamation mark (¡) at the beginning of every interrogative and exclamatory sentence, respectively.
¡Hola!
[oh-lah]
‘Hi, Hello’
¡Hola! is the most basic Spanish expression in greeting other people. It means ‘hi’ or ‘hello’. It can be used both for people you know and for those you don’t know to get them to notice you. This is also the phrase used when answering calls from the phone, followed by a good morning or good evening in Spanish.
Note: Spanish people do not pronounce the letter /h/, making it a silent letter, except when used in the /ch/ sound. Thus, the above expression should not be read [hoh-lah] but [oh-lah].
To Remember Easily: Change the common hello to hello. Interchange the position of the vowels /o/ and /a/ to make it holla, then eventually hola, without pronouncing the letter /h/.
These are the daily or timely greetings in Spanish. Similar to English, they are composed of two words, namely bien which means ‘good’ and the Spanish words for morning, afternoon, and night.
To Remember Easily: Dias is ‘day(s)’ in Spanish (Note the change of /y/ to /i/ and the rearrangement of letters). Since daytime is usually associated with mornings, you should not forget that ¡Buenos Dias! is to be greeted to a person during the morning.
To associate the Spanish tardes with ‘afternoon,’ simply imagine the time of the day when you feel the laziest or, say, tardiest – during the afternoon! Now you know why you always feel like taking a short nap after lunch.
Using alliteration, a literary style where words beginning with the same consonant are placed together in a phrase or sentence, we can easily relate notches with its English translation meaning ‘night’ since they both start with the letter /n/.
¿Cómo te llamas?¿Cómo se llama?
[ko-mo te lya-mas][ko-mo se lya-mah]
‘What is your name?’‘What is your name?’ (Formal)
Literally, these phrases mean ‘How do you call yourself?’ The former is being used during informal or casual conversations, like when asking a lost kid what his name is, when meeting new acquaintances in school or organisations, or when getting to know a person younger or the same age as you are. The latter is being used during formal instances, like when talking to an elder or anybody with high societal and political positions like professors, mayor, or your friend’s mother. The literal translation of “What is your name in Spanish?” is…
¿Qué es tú number?
[ke es tu nom-bre]
‘What is your name?’
If someone asks for your name using any of the above questions, you may also respond with various answers:
Yo soy [name]. Me llama [name]. Mi Nombre es [name].
[yo soy … ] [me lya-mo … ] [mi nom-bre es … ]
‘I am …’ ‘I am called …’ ‘My name is …’
Though there are variations when telling your name in Spanish, all are accepted and are used to introduce yourself to other people. However, be reminded that the first introduction is usually a response to the direct question ¿Quién eres tú?or ‘Who are you?’; the second introduction is the most common response among Spanish; and the third introduction is used when giving emphasis to what your name is (i.e. My name is [name1], not [name2]).
¿Qué tal?¿Como estas?
[ke tal][ko-mo es-tas]
‘What’s up?’‘How are you?’
Both expressions above are used for asking how another person is today, what he has been doing lately, how he is feeling, and the likes.
Note: When talking formally, use pasta instead of estates in the latter expression. The topic on formality in the Spanish Language, especially on pronouns, will be discussed on Day 4.
(Muy) Bien(Muy) Mal
[(muy) byen][(muy) mal]
‘(Very) Good’‘(Very) Bad’
Questions on knowing ‘how you are doing’ can be answered depending on how you are actually feeling during the moment you are asked. Hence, from the options above, you can reply with a good, a very good, a bad, or a very bad.
To Remember Easily: Know that muy is ‘much’ in English, literally. Hence, if something is much, extreme words like ‘very’ should be used to emphasise it. In this case, ‘very’ is translated as muy.
As we have already mentioned earlier, bien is ‘good;’ while mal is ‘bad.’ If you can’t relate the English word to its Spanish counterpart using creative thoughts, try associating the number of letters from one to another – both bien and ‘good’ has 4 letters, while both bad and ‘mal’ has 3 letters.
Por favor
[por fa-vor]
‘Please’
Por favour is the Spanish way of showing respect when asking a favour. It can be used either at the beginning of your sentence or at the end.
To Remember Easily: Don’t you usually say please when you ask for (for) a favour? ☺
GraciasDe nada
[gra-thyas][de na-dha]
‘Thank you’‘You’re welcome’ or
‘Don’t mention it’
To Remember Easily: Gracia, without /s/, is ‘grace’ or ‘blessing’ in English. Don’t you say thank you for all the grace(s) you receive? De nada literally means ‘it’s nothing.’ When it’s nothing, you don’t have to mention it.
¡Adiós!
[a-dhyos]
‘Goodbye’
¡Adios! or ‘goodbye’ is used when you bid farewell to somebody you know – whether personally or through the telephone. It’s like wishing that God is with the other person as he continues his journey as a diós literally means ‘to God.’
¡Hola!
[oh-lah]
‘Hi, Hello’
¡Hola! is the most basic Spanish expression in greeting other people. It means ‘hi’ or ‘hello’. It can be used both for people you know and for those you don’t know to get them to notice you. This is also the phrase used when answering calls from the phone, followed by a good morning or good evening in Spanish.
Note: Spanish people do not pronounce the letter /h/, making it a silent letter, except when used in the /ch/ sound. Thus, the above expression should not be read [hoh-lah] but [oh-lah].
To Remember Easily: Change the common hello to hello. Interchange the position of the vowels /o/ and /a/ to make it holla, then eventually hola, without pronouncing the letter /h/.
¡Buenos dias! ¡Buenas tardes! ¡Buenas noches![bwe-nos di-yahs] [bwe-nas tar-des] [bwe-nas noh-ches]‘Good morning/day’ ‘Good afternoon’ ‘Good evening/night’
These are the daily or timely greetings in Spanish. Similar to English, they are composed of two words, namely bien which means ‘good’ and the Spanish words for morning, afternoon, and night.
To Remember Easily: Dias is ‘day(s)’ in Spanish (Note the change of /y/ to /i/ and the rearrangement of letters). Since daytime is usually associated with mornings, you should not forget that ¡Buenos Dias! is to be greeted to a person during the morning.
To associate the Spanish tardes with ‘afternoon,’ simply imagine the time of the day when you feel the laziest or, say, tardiest – during the afternoon! Now you know why you always feel like taking a short nap after lunch.
Using alliteration, a literary style where words beginning with the same consonant are placed together in a phrase or sentence, we can easily relate notches with its English translation meaning ‘night’ since they both start with the letter /n/.
¿Cómo te llamas? ¿Cómo se llama?
[ko-mo te lya-mas] [ko-mo se lya-mah]
‘What is your name?’ ‘What is your name?’ (Formal)
Literally, these phrases mean ‘How do you call yourself?’ The former is being used during informal or casual conversations, like when asking a lost kid what his name is, when meeting new acquaintances in school or organisations, or when getting to know a person younger or the same age as you are. The latter is being used during formal instances, like when talking to an elder or anybody with high societal and political positions like professors, mayor, or your friend’s mother. The literal translation of “What is your name in Spanish?” is…
¿Qué es tú number?
[ke es tu nom-bre]
‘What is your name?’
If someone asks for your name using any of the above questions, you may also respond with various answers:
Yo soy [name]. Me llama [name]. Mi Nombre es [name].
[yo soy … ] [me lya-mo … ] [mi nom-bre es … ]
‘I am …’ ‘I am called …’ ‘My name is …’
Though there are variations when telling your name in Spanish, all are accepted and are used to introduce yourself to other people. However, be reminded that the first introduction is usually a response to the direct question ¿Quién eres tú? or ‘Who are you?’; the second introduction is the most common response among Spanish; and the third introduction is used when giving emphasis to what your name is (i.e. My name is [name1], not [name2]).
¿Qué tal? ¿Como estas?
[ke tal] [ko-mo es-tas]
‘What’s up?’ ‘How are you?’
Both expressions above are used for asking how another person is today, what he has been doing lately, how he is feeling, and the likes.
Note: When talking formally, use pasta instead of estates in the latter expression. The topic on formality in the Spanish Language, especially on pronouns, will be discussed on Day 4.
(Muy) Bien (Muy) Mal
[(muy) byen] [(muy) mal]
‘(Very) Good’ ‘(Very) Bad’
Questions on knowing ‘how you are doing’ can be answered depending on how you are actually feeling during the moment you are asked. Hence, from the options above, you can reply with a good, a very good, a bad, or a very bad.
To Remember Easily: Know that muy is ‘much’ in English, literally. Hence, if something is much, extreme words like ‘very’ should be used to emphasise it. In this case, ‘very’ is translated as muy.
As we have already mentioned earlier, bien is ‘good;’ while mal is ‘bad.’ If you can’t relate the English word to its Spanish counterpart using creative thoughts, try associating the number of letters from one to another – both bien and ‘good’ has 4 letters, while both bad and ‘mal’ has 3 letters.
Por favor
[por fa-vor]
‘Please’
Por favour is the Spanish way of showing respect when asking a favour. It can be used either at the beginning of your sentence or at the end.
To Remember Easily: Don’t you usually say please when you ask for (for) a favour? ☺
Gracias De nada
[gra-thyas] [de na-dha]
‘Thank you’ ‘You’re welcome’ or
‘Don’t mention it’
To Remember Easily: Gracia, without /s/, is ‘grace’ or ‘blessing’ in English. Don’t you say thank you for all the grace(s) you receive? De nada literally means ‘it’s nothing.’ When it’s nothing, you don’t have to mention it.
¡Adiós!
[a-dhyos]
‘Goodbye’
¡Adios! or ‘goodbye’ is used when you bid farewell to somebody you know – whether personally or through the telephone. It’s like wishing that God is with the other person as he continues his journey as a diós literally means ‘to God.’
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