Greetings and Farewells
Spanish Vocabulary
Greetings in Spanish
In Spanish there are different ways of greeting and saying hello depending on the context of the situation, the time of day and who you are talking to. Some of the most common expressions are:
- Hola (informal)
- Hi. - For any time of day. This is the most common greeting in Spanish. - Buenos días
- Good morning - Buenas tardes
- Good afternoon - Buenas noches
- Good evening / Good night - Que tengas buenos días ... (informal)
- Have a good day - Que tenga (ud.) buenos días ... (formal)
- Have a good day - Que gusto de verte (informal)
- It's nice to see you - Que gusto de verlo (formal)
- I'm glad to see you - Tanto tiempo sin verte
- Long time no see
Asking how someone is in Spanish
Normally the difference between a formal and informal greeting depends on the use of tú or usted. These are different ways of asking how someone is:
Remember for questions in Spanish we begin with an inverted question mark (¿)
- ¿Cómo estás (tú)? - informal
- How are you? - ¿Cómo está Usted? - formal
- How are you? - ¿Qué tal?
- What's up? - ¿Cómo has estado? - (se refiere a tu salud o eventos nuevos de tu vida privada)
- How have you been? - ¿Cómo te ha ido?
- How's everything been going? - ¿Cómo te va? (informal)
- How's it going? - ¿Cómo le va? (formal)
- How are things going for you? - ¿Cómo está(n) tu _____? hermano(s), novia, familia, padre(s), etc.
- How is (are) your brother(s), girlfriend, family, parents...
Asking people what they have been doing of late
These questions are asking about new things the other person has been doing recently (or since the last time you met):
- ¿Qué has hecho (últimamente)?
- What have you done (lately)? - ¿Qué hay de nuevo?
- What's new? - ¿Qué (me) cuentas?
- What's new? (literally: What can you tell me?)
These were the day to day greetings, now let's look at the ones for special days and occasions
Greetings for Christmas, New Year and other celebrations
- Feliz año nuevo
- Happy New Year - Próspero año nuevo
- Prosperous / Happy New Year - Les deseamos una feliz navidad
- We wish you a merry Christmas - Felices fiestas
- Happy celebrations - Felices fiestas patrias
- Happy National day - Quisiera desearles unas bonitas fiestas
- I would like to wish you a beautiful / wonderful celebration - Que tengan unas bonitas fiestas
- Have a beautiful / wonderful celebration - Feliz día de la madre
- Happy Mother's day - Feliz día del padre
- Happy Father's day - Feliz Santo (Santa)
- Happy Saint's day
Birthday greetings in Spanish
- Nosotros te deseamos muchas / muchísimas felicidades en tu cumpleaños
- We wish you a lot of happiness on your birthday - Con todo nuestro cariño para ti en este día especial
- With all of our affection for you on this special day - Quisiera desearte muchas felicidades en tu día
- I would like to wish you much happiness on your day - Que tengas un muy feliz cumpleaños
- Have a happy birthday - Te deseo lo mejor en este día
- I wish you the best on this day
What to say in Spanish when someone is sick
- Que te mejores pronto
- Get well soon - Que te recuperes pronto
- Get well / recover soon - Le deseo una pronta recuperación (formal)
- I wish you a quick recovery.
Wishing someone good luck in Spanish
- ¡Que tengas suerte!
- Good luck! - ¡Qué te vaya bien!
- Good luck (I hope everything goes well) - Buena suerte en ... tu(s) prueba, proyectos, universidad, etc.
- Good luck in ... your test, project, university etc - Te deseamos mucha suerte con ...
- I wish you a lot of luck with .. - Te deseamos lo mejor ...
- I wish you the best ... - ¡Mejor suerte para la próxima vez!
- Better luck next time!
How to congratulate someone in Spanish
- ¡Felicitaciones!
- Congratulations - ¡Muy bien!
- Very good - ¡Qué bien!
- Great! - ¡Excelente!
- Excellent! - ¡Qué bien hecho!
- Well done! - ¡Buen trabajo!
- Good work! - ¡Felicidades por tu ... (nuevo hijo, nuevo trabajo...)!
- Congratulations for your ... - ¡Enhorabuena!
- Congratulations (when someone has just done something - passing an exam, getting a new job - also for the birth of a child or getting married)
Saying goodbye in Spanish
Farewells also depend on the context and the person you are speaking to.
- Adiós
- Goodbye / Bye - Nos vemos
- See you - Saludos a ... tu mamá, papá, etc.
- Say hi to ... your mum, dad etc - Hasta pronto
- See you soon - Hasta luego
- See you later / soon - Hasta siempre
- A final goodbye, you will most likely not see each other again - Hasta nunca
- Until never (as in, we'll never see each other again, sometimes said when angry) - Hasta mañana
- Until tomorrow - Hasta la otra semana
- Until next week - Hasta el próximo fin de semana
- Until next weekend - Te veo luego
- See you soon - Chao
- Bye - ¡Cuídate! (very common en Chile)
- Take care - Nos estamos viendo...
- We'll see you around
How to begin a letter in Spanish
- De nuestra consideración (formal - impersonal)
- To whom it may concern - Estimado señor (formal - for a man)
- Dear Sir (or Dear Mr... when it is followed by a surname) - Estimada señora/señorita (formal - for a woman)
- Dear Madam (or Dear Mrs... when it is followed by a surname) - Querido amigo
- Dearest Friend (a male friend) - Querida amiga
- Dearest Friend (a female friend) - Hola amigo / amiga
- Hi Mate, Hi friend
Ways of ending a letter in Spanish
- Saluda cordialmente a Ud. (formal)
- Yours faithfully - Atentamente (formal)
- Yours truly - Sinceramente (formal)
- Yours Sincerely - Cariñosamente
- Affectionately - Marta y yo les deseamos lo mejor (a ustedes)
- Marta and I wish you the best - Déle mis saludos a... (persona indeterminada)
- Give my regards to ... - Esperando... tu respuesta/recibir tu respuesta/saber de ti.
- Waiting... for your reply/ to receive a reply/to hear from you - Quedo a la espera de tu/su respuesta.
- I await your response - Abrazos / Besos de parte de...
- Hugs / kisses from ... - Un saludo desde... (Chile, Londres... etc).
- Greetings from ... (Hi or Bye from...) - Con amor
- With love - Con cariño
- With affection - Escríbeme pronto
- Write soon
Next Activities
Try our interactive vocabulary game to practise: Greetings and Farewells in Spanish Game
You may want to check out our notes in Spanish about Saludos y Despedidas.
If you found this Spanish Vocabulary about Greetings and Farewells useful, let others know about it.
