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Greetings and Goodbyes in Spanish

In this topic we look at Greetings and Goodbyes in Spanish.

We will learn how to exchange basic pleasantries, such as saying hellos and goodbyes in Spanish, how to ask someone their name and how to state our own name, and how to ask someone how they are feeling and how to describe how we are feeling.

We will continue you on from what we learn here in the next topic: Nationalities and Countries in Spanish.

 

Firstly, let’s look at different ways to greet someone in Spanish:

Hola: Hello/Hi
Buenos días: Good morning
Buenas tardes: Good afternoon
Buenas noches: Good evening/night

Hola can be used at any time of the day. Spanish people usually eat between 2pm and 4pm so buenos días is used up until 2pm. After 2pm we use buenas tardes and buenas noches is used after around 9pm until we go to bed.

If you wish to say that you are pleased to meet someone, you can say:

Mucho gusto: Pleased to meet you
Encantado/a: Charmed (you will say Encantado if you are a man and Encantada if you are a woman)

To ask someone their name you can say:

¿Cómo te llamas?: How are you called? (informal)
¿Cómo se llama usted?: How are you called? (formal)
¿Cual es tu nombre?: What is your name?

To respond we will say:

Soy…: I am…
Me llamo…: I am called…
Mi nombre es…: My name is…

To ask someone how they are you can say:

¿Qué tal?/¿Cómo estás?: How are you? (informal)
¿Cómo está usted? How are you? (formal)

There are many ways to respond. Here are some of the most useful:

Bien: Well
Todo bien: All is good
Muy bien: Very well
Como siempre: As always
Más o menos: Not bad
Mal: Bad

If you wish to ask the other person how they are, after they have just asked you, you can say:

¿Y tú?: And you? (informal)
¿Y usted? And you? (formal)

When you want to say your goodbyes in Spanish you can say:

Adiós: Goodbye
Chao: Bye
Hasta luego: See you later
Nos vemos: See you later
Hasta pronto: See you soon

Practice what you have learned

 

Pronunciation

Play the audio below and practice your pronunciation by repeating with Laura.

 

Transcript

Hola: Hello
Buenos días: Good morning
Buenas tardes: Good afternoon
Buenas noches: Good evening/Good night
¿Cómo te llamas?: What´s your name? (friendly)
¿Cómo se llama usted?: What´s your name? (formal)
Me llamo: I am called
Mucho gusto: Nice to meet you
¿Qué tal? / ¿Cómo estás? : How are you? (friendly)
¿Cómo está usted? How are you? (formal)
Bien: Well, OK
Muy bien: Very well
Mal: Bad
¿Y tú? : And you? (friendly)
¿Y usted? And you? (formal)
Gracias: Thank you
Adiós: Good bye
Hasta luego: See you later

Listening

Play the audio below and try to follow the conversation. Please listen at least twice before checking the transcript.

 

Transcript

Marta: Hola, ¿cómo estás?
John: Muy bien, gracias. ¿Y tú?
Marta: Muy bien. Me llamo Marta. Soy de España. ¿Y tú? ¿Cómo te llamas?
John: Me llamo John.
Marta: ¿De dónde eres John?
John: Soy de Inglaterra.
Marta: Muy bien. Encantada John.
John: Mucho gusto Marta.
Marta: ¡Adiós!
John: ¡Hasta luego!

Reading

Open the text below and try to follow what is written. Please read at least twice before checking the translation.

Text

Paula: Hola, buenos días. ¿Cómo te llamas?
Juan: Me llamo Juan. ¿Y tú, cómo te llamas?
Paula: Yo me llamo Paula. Mucho gusto. ¿Cómo estás hoy Juan?
Juan: Mal. ¿Y tú?
Paula: Yo estoy muy bien. ¿Por qué estás mal Juan?
Juan: Tengo resfriado.
Paula: Lo siento. ¿Quieres una bebida? ¿Un café o un té?
Juan: Sí, gracias. Un brandy por favor.
Paula: Vale

Translation

Paula: Hello, good morning. What is your name?
Juan: My name is Juan. And what’s your name?
Paula: My name is Paula. Pleased to meet you. How are you today, Juan?
Juan: Mal. What about you?
Paula: I’m very good. What’s wrong Juan?
Juan: I have a cold.
Paula: I’m sorry. Do you want a drink? A coffee or a tea?
Juan: Yes, thank you. A brandy please.
Paula: Okay.

Writing

Open the questions below and answer them in writing using the box provided. Check the answers afterwards to see how you got on.

Questions

1. How do you greet someone in the morning?
2. How do you greet someone in the afternoon?
3. How do you wish someone good night?
4. How do you ask someone their name in an informal way?
5. State your name: I am called…
6. How do you ask someone how they are in an informal way?
7. How do you say “See you later”?
8. How do you say “Nice to meet you”?

Answers

1. Buenos días
2. Buenas tardes
3. Buenas noches
4. ¿Cómo te llamas?
5. Me llamo…
6. ¿Cómo estás?
7. Hasta luego
8. Mucho gusto

Review

Play the audio below and respond to the questions Laura asks you. Check the answers afterwards to see how you got on.

 

Answers

1. Hola
2. Me llamo
3. ¿Cómo se llama?
4. ¿Cómo te llamas?
5. Buenas tardes
6. ¿Cómo estás? / ¿Qué tal?
7. (Possible answer) Muy bien
8. Adiós / Hasta luego

Final Challenge

 

Put the dialogue in order…

-Me llamo Antonio ¿Cómo estás?
-Muy bien, gracias. ¿y tú?
-Hola, buenas tardes. ¿Cómo te llamas?
-¡Adiós!
-Me llamo Lola, ¿y tú?
-Bien ¡hasta luego!

 

Answers will be given in the next topic!

For more learning material to practice this topic

Try the Beginner Spanish Course completely FREE and access all the topics with lots of extra material including conversation audios with transcripts, reading exercises with translations, writing exercises with answers, and review tests with answers. PLUS ask Laura and Adam any questions you may have via email or phone anytime.

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