February 22, 2021 by Nicole Canún Spanish Vocabulary 0 comments

The Ultimate List of Spanish Greetings and Farewells for Beginners

You’ve set your mind to having fun conversations in Spanish and you know that Spanish greetings and farewells are the most effective first step to master. After reading this list, you will be able to say hello and goodbye in different ways and contexts, such as formal and informal scenarios. Need to introduce yourself? No problem! Introductions and basic conversation are also on the menu. Choosing this article to start was a great choice, it will open the doors to Spanish for you!

¡Empecemos! (Let’s start!)

Basic Spanish Greetings and Farewells.

There are plenty of ways of saying hello and goodbye in Spanish. Nevertheless, there are two words that can apply in a formal meeting or a gathering with friends. You can use it regardless of the place, time or if you want the conversation to keep going or not. Those words are:

Hola.
Hello.

Adiós.
Goodbye.

Formal vs Informal Spanish Greetings and Farewells

When it comes to Spanish greetings and farewells, a big difference exists between formal and informal conversation.

Formal Spanish

Usted is the formal pronoun we use to talk to:

a person we don’t know
someone significantly older
someone who we highly respect

Informal Spanish

Tú is the informal pronoun we use to talk to:

a person we know
someone around our age or younger
a friend or family member

To learn the basics in how to determine which to use (usted vs tú), check out How Are You? Spanish Greetings.

Informal Spanish Greetings and Farewells

Chances are you’ll encounter more situations where you need to use informal Spanish greetings and farewells than formal ones. Which is why this section will be very thorough. In an informal circumstance such as meeting your friend’s friends, people at a party or at school, you will be comfortable and relaxed so you can practice more freely.

Informal Greetings in Spanish

This is how you greet people you know and that are in your same rank of hierarchy in an office (unless the office protocol is very relaxed). Family and friends are in this category as well as people you are getting to know within your circle.

Hola.
Hello

¡Tanto tiempo sin verte!
Long time no see!

¿Cómo estás?
How are you?

¿Cómo estamos?
How are we?

¿Cómo te va?
How is it going?

¡Qué milgaro!
What a miracle!

This expression is used when you haven’t seen the other person in the longest time. It’s as if it was a miracle that you could see him or her.

¿Qué hay?
What’s up?

¿Qué pasó?
What’s up? Literal translation: What happened?

¿Qué hay de nuevo?
What’s new?

¿Cómo vas?
How is it going for you? / How are you?

¿Cómo va todo?
How are things?

¿Cómo van las cosas?
How are things going?

¿En qué andas?
What’s new?

¿Qué onda?
What’s up

¿Quiubo?
What’s up? / What happened?

¿Qué onda? and ¿Quiubo? are the most informal of Spanish greetings and farewells.

Qué onda is the equivalent of what’s popping? And the literal translation is “what waves?” This phrase started with the hippie movement and has lasted until today. It is mainly used in Mexico, Guatemala, and Chile.

Quiubo is a word that blends the words qué and hubo, that means “what happened?” or “what’s up?”. It is mainly used in Mexico, Panama, Colombia and Venezuela.

Example Conversations: Informal Greetings in Spanish

It is ok to practice with all these phrases by themselves but it is better to have them inserted in a full conversation. The next step is practice how to say hello, goodbye, and ask and answer questions in a basic conversation in Spanish.

The universal example of basic informal conversations in Spanish include:

a greeting
asking the other person how is he or she
responding that same question

Persona 1: Hola
Persona 2: ¿Qué onda?

Person 1: Hello.
Person 2: What’s up?

Persona 1: ¿Cómo estás?
Persona 2: ¿Bien y tú?
Persona 1: Bien también.

Person 1: How are you?
Person 2: Fine and you?
Person 1: Also good.

Also, you can respond to some informal greetings by repeating the same phrase. One example conversation is:

Persona 1: ¿Qué onda?
Persona 2: ¿Qué onda?

Person 1: What’s up?
Person 2: What’s up?

But it is acceptable to answer with a similar phrase like this:

Persona 1: ¿Quiubo?
Persona 2: ¿Qué onda?

Person 1: What’s up?
Person 2: What’s up?

Persona 1: ¿Qué pasó?
Persona 2: ¡Qué milagro!

Person 1: What happened?
Person 2: What a miracle!

Other questions, like ¿qué hay de nuevo?, require a different response:

Persona 1: ¿Qué hay de nuevo?
Persona 2: Nada, ¿y tú?

Person 1: What’s new?
Person 2: Nothing much, you?

Persona 1: ¿Qué hay de nuevo?
Persona 2: Me casé, ¿y tú?

Person 1: What’s new?
Person 2: I got married, and you?

The informal greetings ¡tanto tiempo sin verte! and ¡qué milagro! are normally answered with a reason or excuse why this person has been out of touch:

Persona 1: ¡Qué milagro!
Persona 2: Es que estaba trabajando.

Person 1: What a miracle!
Person 2: I was working.

Persona 1: Tanto tiempo sin verte.
Persona 2: Es que ya casi no vengo.

Person 1: Long time no see.
Person 2: I don’t come around much anymore.

Informal Farewells in Spanish

This is the easy one. Most people use one or two words to say goodbye in Spanish and they normally stick to one way of saying it. These phrases are regional so you will hear some more than others in specific parts of countries. The most common ones in Mexico (where I’m from) are adiós, nos vemos, and cuídate, but here are more examples:

Adiós.
Good bye.

Nos vemos.
See you.

Nos estamos viendo.
See you around.

Te veo después / Te veo luego.
See you later.

Hasta pronto.
Seen you soon.

Hasta mañana.
See you tomorrow.

Hasta el martes.
See you Tuesday.

Salúdame a tu hermano.
Say hi to your brother for me.

¡Cuídate!
Take care.

Ciao / bye.
Bye.

Even though ciao and bye are words in Italian and English, they’re popular farewells in all Latin American countries.

Example Conversations: Informal Farewells in Spanish

Most of these are answered with the exact same phrase. Goodbyes that involve specifics such as salúdame a tu hermano require an affirmation, as well as nos estamos viendo:

Persona 1: Cuídate
Persona 2: Adiós

Person 1: Take care
Person 2: Goodbye

Persona 1: Salúdame a tu hermano.
Persona 2: Claro que sí.

Person 1: Say hi to your brother.
Person 2: Sure will.

Persona 1: Nos estamos viendo.
Persona 2: Ok.

Person 1: See you around.
Person 2: OK.

Formal Greetings in Spanish

Formal greetings in Spanish vary according to the time of day (you wouldn’t say “good morning” to someone at 2pm!) and your intention to continue the conversation or not.

Here is a list of the most common Spanish greetings that you’ll hear from native Spanish speakers all over the world.

Hola.
Hello.

¿Qué tal?
How are you?

Mucho gusto.
It’s a pleasure.

Buen día.
Good day.

Buenos días.
Good morning.

Buenas tardes.
Good afternoon.

Buenas noches.
Good evening.

¿Cómo le va?
How do you do?

¿Cómo está (usted)?
How are you?

¿Cómo se encuentra (usted)?
How are you doing?

Singular Subject Pronoun (usted) vs Plural (ustedes)

As is standard in Spanish, the usage of all pronouns is optional—including usted. The form of the verb conjugation tells you who the subject pronoun is. In the following examples, we’ll explore what the verb looks like when it’s conjugated for a plural subject pronoun (ustedes), as compared to the above examples that show the singular subject pronoun (usted).

Singular Subject Pronoun (usted)	Plural Subject Pronoun (ustedes)
*¿Cómo está (usted)?* How are you?	*¿Cómo están (ustedes)?* How are you (all)?
*¿Cómo se encuentra (usted)?* How are you doing?	*¿Cómo se encuentran (ustedes)?* How are you (all) doing?

Le vs La vs Lo

As you can see from the examples above, when you target your greetings to the usted pronoun, you can finalize the verb with one of 3 object pronouns:

Le – implies a higher level of respect and is gender neutral
La – female
Lo – male

Es un placer conocerle. (neutral)
Es un placer conocerla. (talking to a woman)
Es un placer conocerlo. (talking to a man)

It is a pleasure to meet you.

Qué gusto conocerle. (neutral)
Qué gusto conocerla. (talking to a woman)
Qué gusto conocerlo. (talking to a man)

What a pleasure to meet you.

Gusto en conocerle. (neutral)
Gusto en conocerla. (talking to a woman)
Gusto en conocerlo. (talking to a man)

Pleasure to meet you.

Qué gusto verle. (neutral)
Qué gusto verla. (talking to a woman)
Qué gusto verlo. (talking to a man)

What a pleasure to see you.

Gusto en verle. (neutral)
Gusto en verla. (talking to a woman)
Gusto en verlo. (talking to a man)

Pleasure to see you.

The plural form would be:

conocerles/conocerlas /conocerlos and verles/verlas/verlos.

Es un placer conocerles. (neutral)
Es un placer conocerlas. (talking to a woman)
Es un placer conocerlos. (talking to a man)

It is a pleasure to meet you (all).

Example Conversations: Formal Greetings in Spanish

You will answer many formal greetings by repeating the exact same phrase someone else said to you, such as hola, qué tal, buen día, buenos días, buenas tardes, or buenas noches. But others require a different response:

Persona 1: Buenos días.
Persona 2: ¿Cómo le va?

Person 1: Good morning.
Person 2: How do you do?

Persona 1: Muy bien, gracias ¿y a usted?
Persona 2: Bien también, gracias por preguntar.

Person 1: Fine, thank you, and you?
Person 2: Just as well, thank you for asking.

Persona 1: Que tenga buen día.
Persona 2: Gracias, igualmente.

Person 1: Have a good day.
Person 2: Thank you, likewise.

Formal Farewells in Spanish

Spanish greetings and farewells are really easy to learn. When saying goodbye, there is only so much you can say in a formal scenario. In contrast to the formal greeting, the formal farewell takes the pressure off because you are ending the conversation. Here are a some of examples:

Fue un gusto conocerle. (neutral)
Fue un gusto conocerla. (talking to a woman)
Fue un gusto conocerlo. (talking to a man)

It was a pleasure to meet you.

Qué gusto verle. (neutral)
Qué gusto verle. (talking to a woman)
Qué gusto verle. (talking to a man)

It was a pleasure to see you.

Fue un gusto. / Fue un placer.
It was a pleasure.

Hasta luego.
See you later.

Con permiso. / Con su permiso.
Excuse me (Literal translation: With your permission).

(Tenga un) Buen día.
Have a good day.

(Tenga una) Buena tarde.
Have a good afternoon.

(Tenga una) Buena noche.
Have a good night.

Que tenga un buen día.
Have a good day.

Am I reading your mind right now?

You want to know why buenos días, buenas tardes and buenas noches are plural as a greeting but singular as a farewell.

Well, it’s simple: as a farewell you say buen día because it is short for tenga un buen día (have a good day), but we understand it without the imperative command tenga. This also applies for buena tarde and buena noche.

Remember mucho gusto in our list of formal greetings? This is a versatile phrase. Not only does it mean “it’s a pleasure to meet you,” as a greeting, but also “it was a pleasure meeting you” as a farewell.

Mucho gusto.
It was a pleasure meeting you.

Example Conversations: Formal Farewells in Spanish

You will respond to some of the Spanish greetings and farewells both formal and informal with a simple igualmente (likewise) or el gusto es mío or el placer es mío (the pleasure is mine).

But others require a specific response:

Persona 1: Hasta luego.
Persona 2: Hasta luego.

Person 1: See you later.
Person 2: See you later.

Persona 1: Con permiso. / Con su permiso.
Persona 2: Propio.

Person 1: Excuse me. Literal translation: with your permission.
Person 2: You are excused. Literal translation: your own. As in only your own is needed.

Persona 1: Tenga un buen día / buena tarde / buena noche
Persona 2: Gracias igualmente

Person 1: Have a good day / afternoon / evening.
Person 2: Thank you, you too.

Persona 1: Que tenga un buen día.
Persona 2: Gracias, igualmente.

Person 1: Have a good day.
Person 2: Likewise

Spanish Greetings and Farewells in Writing

When Spanish greetings and farewells are written, they have to be formal. These include letters, bureaucratic procedures, medical notes or emails. Most of them start off with the name of the person it is directed to:

Estimada Nicole,
Dear Nicole,

If you don’t know who might receive your letter, it shall start with:

A quien corresponda:
To whom it may concern.

Followed by one of these two phrases:

Espero esté bien,
I hope you are well,

Espero que esta carta le encuentre bien,
I hope this letter finds you well,

As for the farewell, the most common expressions are:

Sin más por el momento,
Nothing else for the moment,

Le agradezco de antemano su atención / tiempo / consideración,
I thank you in advance for your attention / time / consideration,

And right before your name and signature, the word:

Atentamente,
Sincerely,

Spanish Learning Strategies

Mastering Spanish greetings and farewells is more fun when you’ve planned to use fun and interesting learning strategies. Remember: practice makes perfect!

Create Mock Conversations with a Friend and Some Flashcards

You can go old school and ask a friend to help you go through Spanish greetings and farewell flashcards. This is an entertaining way of practicing while speaking and thinking in Spanish. Ask a friend to join you in prompting each other to have conversations by showing flashcards for 10 minutes daily and you’ll be greeting others without flashcards in no time!

Use Google Translate to Perfect Pronunciation

Use Google Translate to give you a heads up on correct pronunciation so that you can polish your pronunciation to perfection. If you practice these exercises along with the flashcards you will learn quicker.

Speak Spanish in Real-time with Native Spanish Speakers

Language skills tend to fade away unless you practice regularly. The most effective way to do this is to practice with a native speaker who knows how to support your learning journey. Now that you’ve learned Spanish greetings and farewells from this ultimate guide, you’ve got the skills you need to jump into a full Spanish conversation with one of our certified Spanish teachers from Guatemala! Sign up for a free class today and join the 24,000 monthly active students who are pursuing their dreams of Spanish fluency with our teachers at Homeschool Spanish Academy!

Ready to learn more Spanish vocabulary? Check these out!

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Nicole Canún

Freelance Writer at Homeschool Spanish Academy

Blogger, content creator, and marketer. Proudly Mexican. Been to 30 countries. I love learning from different cultures and trying their cuisines. Obsessed with Asia. Fluent in Spanish and English, not so much in French.