Most English speakers who study Spanish as a second language have hopes of one day speaking the language fluently enough to be able to communicate with a native Spanish speaker.  In order to make new relationships with Spanish speakers, you will need to know how to greet people.  If you travel to a Spanish speaking country you will find that most people are very gracious and you will be rewarded by a big smile if you make the effort to speak Spanish, even if its just to say hello.

Just like English, there are all kinds of ways to say hello in Spanish.  Choosing which phrase to use will depend on the area of the world where you are speaking and the person you are speaking to.  One challenge for beginning Spanish speakers is understanding the context for using the tu and usted forms.  In Spanish, when you are speaking with someone you don’t know at all or someone who is older than you, it is best to use usted, which is more formal.  When you are talking with friends, family or new acquaintances that are your age or younger, use the tu form because it is much less formal.  This concept will be important to understand when you are greeting someone new.  If you are not sure which form to use, you can’t go wrong with usted. That way you are sure not to offend anyone by being too familiar, and they will feel that you respect them.  If they would prefer to be referred to in the tu form, they will usually tell you.

Here are some standard and fun ways to greet others in Spanish:

Hola- Hello

Buenos días- Good morning.

Buenos tardes- Good afternoon.

Buenos noches- Good evening.

¿Que tal?- How are you?

¿Cómo te va?- How?s it going?

¿Que hay de nuevo?- What?s new?

¿Que pasa?- What?s going on?

¿Que onda?- What?s up?

Some of these phrases are more popular in some Spanish-speaking countries than in others.  If you travel abroad you will quickly pick up which greetings are the most common.  After your initial hello, most conversations with a Spanish speaker will go straight into a question about how you and your family are faring.

¿Cómo está Usted?- How are you? (formal)

¿Cómo estás?- How are you? (informal)

¿Y su familia?- And your family? (formal)

¿Y tu familia?- And your family? (informal)

You have several responses to choose from based on how things are going for you that day.

Muy bien, gracias.- Very good, thank you.

Bien- Good

Mas o menos- so-so

Asi asi- ok.

Mal- Bad

Hopefully, your level of Spanish will be high enough that you will be able to have a slightly more in-depth conversation before you depart from your new Spanish-speaking friend.  When the time goes to say goodbye and go your separate ways here are a few phrases that you can use:

Hasta luego- See you later.

Hasta mañana.- See you tomorrow.

Buenos noches.- Good night.

Adiós- Good-bye

Chau/Chao- Bye/So long.

One last tidbit for you to know is the phrase ?Que te vaya bien?.  In many Spanish-speaking countries, this is the last thing someone will say to you as you are leaving.  It literally means ?And may all go well for you?.  This phrase is basically wishing someone a safe journey and a good day, the same way we might say, ?have a good day? to someone as we are saying goodbye.

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