September 9, 2020 by Michelle Margaret Fajkus Homeschooling, Spanish for Adults, Spanish Resources 0 comments

The Most Common Ways to Say ‘Have a Good Day’ in Spanish

Friendliness is a universal virtue. Although the phrase “have a good day” has become a bit of a cliche, it is still useful to know how to say. It’s always meaningful when said in a heartfelt way in any language.

You could argue that the concept of wishing someone a “nice day” isn’t really part of Latin American culture. In that case, que tenga un buen día would be considered an Anglicism, a word or expression that has been directly translated from English into another language without taking the other language into account.

However, there are a number of rather similar sayings that are common in Spain and Latin America, the foremost of which is ¡Que te vaya bien!, meaning “hope things go well” or “have a good one.” Read on to learn about and practice these essential phrases for conversations in Spanish.

How Do You Say “Have a Good Day” in Spanish?

The literal translation of that friendly, frequently used phrase in the U.S. is ¡que tengas un buen día! To break it down grammatically, let’s look at each part of the phrase separately.

Que is used at the beginning, because this phrase is actually a shortened version of “I hope you have a good day,” or Espero que tengas un buen día.
Tenga is the subjunctive form of the verb tener being used as an imperative. Learn more about these types of commands here.
Un buen día is the proper way to say “a good day” here, rather than un día bueno, because bueno/a—like mejor and nuevo/a—is an exception to the rule in Spanish that requires the adjective to be placed after the noun (as in la casa verde – the green house)

Which “You” to Use

“You” is translated into Spanish in a variety of ways. Use this table to know which form to use in different situations.

Spanish Phrase	Form of “You”	Used With
¡Que tengas un buen día!¡Que te vaya bien!	Tú	a single person who is the same age as you or younger
¡Que tenga un buen día!¡Que le vaya bien!	Usted	a single person who is older than you or to whom you want to show respect
¡Que tengan un buen día!¡Que les vaya bien!	Ustedes	more than one person

In addition to “have a good day” in Spanish, check out these other parting words and phrases you’ll want to know in order to complete a basic conversation en español.

Adiós – Goodbye
¡Hasta luego! – See you later.
¡Hasta pronto! – See you soon.
¡Feliz día / tarde / noche! – Happy day / afternoon / night
Que lo pase(s) bien / bonito – Have a good one.
Chao – Bye
Que descanses. – Rest up.
Que este(s) bien. – Be good
Que disfrute(s) – Enjoy.

Greetings

Greetings are incredibly important in Spanish. In Latin American culture, greeting another person is a way of showing respect.

Buenos días – good morning
Buenas tardes – good afternoon
Buenas noches – good evening
(Muy) buenas – a shortened version of the above three greetings, suitable anytime
Hola – hello

Follow-up Questions

It’s customary to ask a follow up question after a greeting. Use one of the following.

¿Cómo estás? – How are you? (used with friends or family)
¿Cómo está usted? – How are you (formal)?
¿Cómo te va? – How’s it going?
¿Cómo le va a usted? – How’s it going?
¿Cómo has ido? – How’ve you been?
¿Qué tal? – What’s up?
¿Qué pasa? – What’s happening?
¿Qué haces? – What are you doing?
¿Y tú? – And you?

Replies

Bien, gracias. – Well, thanks.
Muy bien. – Very well.
Como siempre. – As always.
Un poco cansado/a. – A little tired.
Estoy enfermo/a. – I’m sick.
Más o menos. – Okay.
Mal. – Bad.
Todo bien. – All good.
Nada. – Nothing.

Transitions and Filler Words

Learn these Spanish transition words, or muletillas, so that you can sprinkle them into your sentences and conversations!

Spanish	English	Example
Bueno	Well	Bueno, tengo que ir. – Well, I have to go.
Mira	Look / look here	¡Mira, si no limpias eso voy a enojarme! – Look, if you don’t clean that, I’m going to be mad!
Pues	Well	Pues, no sé. – Well, I don’t know.
La verdad es que	Actually	La verdad es que no me siento bien. – Well…actually, I don’t feel well.
Entonces	Then	Entonces…¿no vienes? – Then… you’re not coming?
O sea	In other words, That is to say, or I mean	Ella no me ha hablado todavía, o sea de verdad no sé. – She hasn’t talked to me yet, so in other words I don’t really know.
Luego	Later	Luego te digo. – I’ll tell you later.
Actualmente	Currently	Actualmente hace buen tiempo, pero podría llover más tarde. – Currently the weather is nice, but it may rain later.
Por lo menos	At least	¡Por lo menos pregúntale su nombre! – At least ask her name.
Así que	So	¿Así que vienes? – So, you’re coming then?
Aunque	Although, even though	Aunque me dicen que estoy flaca, voy a hacer una dieta. – Although they tell me I’m thin, I’m going on a diet.
Además	Moreover, besides, also	Ademas, voy a mudarme de aqui. – Besides, I’m moving away from here.
Ni modo	No way	Ni modo que yo pueda ir contigo, lo siento. – No way can I go with you, sorry.
Menos mal	Good thing	Menos mal que no olvidaste. – Good thing you didn’t forget.
Lo bueno	The good thing	Lo bueno es que vamos de vacaciones. – The good thing is that we’re going on vacation.
Lo malo	The bad thing	Lo malo es que se nos perdió las maletas. – The bad thing is they lost our suitcases.
A ver	Let’s see	A ver si mi paquete ha llegado. – Let’s see if my package has arrived.
Con razón	No wonder or little wonder that	Con razón tu helado se derritió, ¡lo dejaste al sol! – No wonder your ice cream melted, you left it in the sun!
Por eso	Because or that’s why	No me gusta el lugar. Por eso no quiero ir. – I don’t like that place. That’s why I don’t want to go.

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Let’s Have a Conversation

Do you want to try out wishing a good day in Spanish to a native speaker? Sign up for a free trial class where one of our certified teachers from Guatemala will gladly have a conversation with you! Our professional, friendly teachers would love to help you start out on the path of learning Spanish and move beyond these basic Spanish phrases.

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Michelle Margaret Fajkus

Editor & Writer at Homeschool Spanish Academy

Michelle Margaret Fajkus is a bilingual writer and longtime yoga teacher. A former advertising copywriter turned bilingual elementary school teacher, she is now a freelance writer, editor and translator. A native Texan, Michelle has Mexican roots and learned Spanish in middle and high school. She has become more fluent thanks to living as an expat in Guatemala. She lives with her family on beautiful Lake Atitlan. Learn more about Michelle and her work at yogafreedom.org.

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