Greetings in Spanish: Hello, Goodbye, Tú or Usted

In short

The basic greetings in Spanish are hola (hello), buenos días (good morning), buenas tardes (good afternoon, good evening) and buenas noches (good evening, good night). To say goodbye: adiós, hasta luego (see you later) and hasta mañana (see you tomorrow). The usual follow-up is ¿Qué tal? or ¿Cómo estás?, answered with Bien, gracias. ¿Y tú?

Saying hello and goodbye

Spanish	English	When to use it
hola	hello, hi	any time, with anyone; often combined: Hola, buenos días.
buenos días	good morning	from waking up until lunch, which in Spain is around 2 p.m.
buenas tardes	good afternoon, good evening	from lunch until it gets dark, often until 8 or 9 p.m. in Spain
buenas noches	good evening, good night	once it is dark, both when you arrive and when you leave
buenas	hi	informal short form of all three
¿Qué tal?	how’s it going?	informal, on its own or after hola

Two things surprise English speakers. First, the Spanish day is divided by meals, not by the clock: buenos días lasts until lunch, even at 1.30 p.m. Second, there is no separate “good evening”: buenas noches is also a greeting, so you can walk into a room at 10 p.m. and say it.

In Argentina, Uruguay and some other countries, buen día is common in the morning. In Spain it is rarely heard, but it is not a mistake.

Pronunciation: the h of hola is silent (OH-lah). Buenos is BWEH-nohs, and días is DEE-ahs, with the stress on the i. The d of tardes is soft.

Saying goodbye

adiós: goodbye. In Spain it is also a quick greeting when you pass someone without stopping.
hasta luego: see you later. In Spain it is the everyday goodbye, even if you won’t see the person again that day.
hasta mañana: see you tomorrow; hasta el lunes: see you on Monday
hasta pronto, hasta la próxima: see you soon, until next time
nos vemos: see you
chao or chau: bye (informal; chau is the usual spelling in Argentina and Uruguay)
que tengas un buen día: have a good day; buen fin de semana: have a good weekend
hasta la vista: it exists, but it is much less common than films suggest.

“How are you?” and the answers

¿Qué tal?: How’s it going? (informal, very frequent)
¿Cómo estás?: How are you? (to one person, tú)
¿Cómo está usted?: How are you? (formal)
¿Qué tal estáis?: to a group, in Spain; ¿Cómo están? in Latin America
¿Qué pasa?: What’s up? (informal, Spain); ¿Qué onda? in Mexico and several other countries

The answers go from best to worst: ¡Genial!, Muy bien., Bien, gracias., Regular., Mal., Fatal. Then bounce the question back: ¿Y tú? or ¿Y usted?

As in English, ¿Qué tal? is often just a greeting, and nobody expects a medical report. Between friends, a quick ¡Hola! ¿Qué tal? Bien, ¿y tú? is the whole exchange.

Meeting someone

Te presento a mi amigo Tom.: This is my friend Tom. (Le presento a… with usted)
Mucho gusto.: Pleased to meet you.
Encantado (said by a boy or man), Encantada (said by a girl or woman): Delighted.
Igualmente.: Likewise.

Tú or usted?

Tú for friends and family. Also for children and classmates. In Spain, tú is widely used with people your own age, and often with strangers in casual settings.
Usted for polite distance. Older people you don’t know, officials, customers. It takes the third-person verb: ¿Cómo está usted?, ¿Es usted la profesora?
Two plurals in Spain, one in Latin America. In Spain, vosotros is the informal plural (¿Qué tal estáis?) and ustedes the formal one. In Latin America, ustedes is used for everyone.
Vos in parts of Latin America. In Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and much of Central America, vos replaces tú, with its own verb forms: ¿Vos de dónde sos?
Usage varies. Usted is more frequent in much of Latin America than in Spain, including within families in some countries. When unsure, start with usted and let the other person offer tú.

Teachers in Spain: many secondary pupils address their teachers with tú and call them profe or by their first name. Señorita for a teacher sounds old-fashioned in Spain. In your own classroom, profe works everywhere.

Kisses, hugs or handshakes?

Customs vary with the region, the family, age and the situation, so present them as tendencies, not rules.

In Spain, friends and acquaintances usually greet with two kisses, one on each cheek, often cheek to cheek. This is typical between women, and between a man and a woman. Men usually shake hands, and close friends or relatives may hug.
In much of Latin America, a single kiss on the cheek is common. In Argentina and Uruguay it is also usual between male friends and relatives.
At work or in formal settings, a handshake is the safe choice everywhere.

In class, role-play the words, not the kisses: a wave or a handshake is enough.

Greetings in writing

Spanish letters and emails use a colon after the greeting, not a comma.

Informal: Querido Pablo:, Querida Marta:, or simply ¡Hola, Marta! Sign off with Un abrazo, Besos or Hasta pronto.
Formal: Estimado señor:, Estimada señora: Sign off with Un saludo, Saludos cordiales or Atentamente.

—Buenos días, profe. —Buenos días, Jake. ¿Qué tal?“Good morning, Miss.” “Good morning, Jake. How are you?”

Buenas tardes, señora. ¿Cómo está usted?Good afternoon, madam. How are you?

¡Hasta luego! ¡Buen fin de semana!See you! Have a good weekend!

Typical mistakes of English-speaking learners

Gender: “buenos noches” or “buenas días”. Día is masculine despite its -a, so it is buenos días; tardes and noches are feminine.
“Buenas noches” only at bedtime: it is also the normal evening hello.
“¿Cómo eres?” for “How are you?” It means “What are you like?” Use ¿Cómo estás?
Sounding the h of hola.
“Estoy bueno” or “estoy buena” for “I’m good”: this comments on looks, not health. Say estoy bien.
Register: usted with a classmate, or ¿Qué pasa? to the head teacher.
Missing ¿ and accents: “Que tal?” for ¿Qué tal?, “adios” for adiós.

In class: the ¿Qué tal? routine

A greeting that opens every lesson is the first Spanish of the day for your pupils, and it can do more than say hello.

Greet the class at the door or at the board: ¡Hola! Buenos días. The class answers Buenos días, profe, or señor or señora. After lunch, switch to buenas tardes: the time of day becomes part of the lesson.
Ask ¿Qué tal estáis? The class answers chorally: ¡Muy bien!
Show a face on the board. The class says how the person feels: Está cansado or Está cansada. Reveal both forms.
Turn it round: three or four pupils say how they feel, with a reason, and ask the next pupil ¿Y tú?
At the end of the lesson, close with the right goodbye: ¡Hasta mañana!, ¡Hasta el jueves!, ¡Buen fin de semana!

That is exactly what a short daily routine offers: the same frame, a little variety, and every pupil speaking in the first minute.

A word of care: let pupils give a “classroom answer” rather than their real mood if they prefer. Now and then, change the register: Hoy saludamos a la directora (today we’re greeting the head teacher), and the class switches to usted.

Adapting to your class

A1Greet and answer: Hola. Buenos días. ¿Qué tal? Bien, gracias.
A2Add a reason and the right time of day: Buenas tardes. Estoy cansada porque tengo educación física.
B1Register and introductions: tú or usted, Le presento a…, Encantado.
B2Formal emails and cultural comparison: greetings in Spain and Latin America, vos and ustedes

At KS2, songs and a greeting puppet do the job. At KS3, tú and usted and the time-of-day rule are worth explicit teaching. At GCSE, greetings and sign-offs matter in role plays and in written tasks.

The “Las emociones” module does it for you

A face on the board, the class says how it feels, the answer is revealed in the masculine and the feminine: agreement practice without even announcing it. No preparation needed: try everything free for 15 days of use.

Try it free

Frequently asked questions

How do you say hello in Spanish?

Hola. It works any time and with anyone. You can add the time of day: Hola, buenos días.

What is the difference between buenas tardes and buenas noches?

Buenas tardes is used from lunch until it gets dark; buenas noches after dark, both to say hello and goodbye. Spanish has no separate “good evening”.

How do you say goodbye in Spanish?

Adiós, or more often hasta luego (see you later). Also hasta mañana, hasta pronto, nos vemos and, informally, chao.

Should I use tú or usted?

Tú with friends, family, children and classmates; usted with adults you don’t know or in formal situations. Usted is more common in much of Latin America than in Spain.

How do you answer ¿Qué tal?

Bien, gracias. ¿Y tú? Other answers: muy bien, regular, mal, fatal.

Why is it buenos días but buenas noches?

Because día is masculine, despite ending in -a, while tarde and noche are feminine. The adjective bueno agrees with each.