Imagine you are in a Spanish speaking country. You would probably meet new people and would like to talk to them. In this article, we are going to study and practice useful expressions and phrases for saying hello and introducing yourself.

Saying Hello and Goodbye in Spanish

When you see someone for the first time during the day, you may greet that person. Anytime during the day, to someone you know or someone you don’t yet know, you can always say hola (hello).

As the day goes on, at various parts of the day, you can say buenos días (good morning), buenas tardes (good afternoon, good evening) or buenas noches (good evening, good night).

Buenas tardes vs buenas noches

Buenas tardes (good afternoon, good evening) is used between noon and sunset.

In English, good night is only used to say goodbye before going to bed. This doesn’t happen in Spanish. You can use buenas noches both to say hello and to say goodbye in the evening or at night. That is why, buenas noches can be translated as good evening or good night depending on the situation.

To say goodbye, you can use adiós (goodbye), hasta pronto (see you soon) or hasta luego (see you later).

To sum up, here is the list of the expressions we have seen for saying hello and goodbye:

  • hola (hello)
  • buenos días (good morning)
    • In Central and South America, buen día is more commonly used.
  • buenas tardes (good afternoon, good evening)
  • buenas noches (good evening, good night)
  • adiós (goodbye)
  • hasta pronto (see you soon)
  • hasta luego (see you later)

Expressions: How the Other Person is Doing

After saying hello and introducing yourself, you usually ask how the other person is doing. In personal exchanges such as these, there are some cultural differences between Spanish-speaking countries. However, when talking to a friend, the most popular ones are ¿qué tal? or ¿cómo estás?

Buenos días. ¿Qué tal?

Good morning. How are you?

Hola. ¿Cómo estás?

Hello. How are you?

Expressions: Saying your Name

To say what your name is, there are 3 basic structures you could use, all of them followed by your own name: yo soy or soy (I am...), mi nombre es and me llamo (my name is…). Notice that you can say yo soy or simply soy.

Hola. Yo soy Ana.

Hello. I am Ana.

Buenas tardes. Mi nombre es Antonio.

Good afternoon. My name is Antonio.

Buenos días. Me llamo Juan.

Good morning. My name is Juan.

Me llamo is a common Spanish expression to say your name. Me llamo Juan translates directly as I call myself Juan.

In order to give some more information about yourself (where you’re from, what you’re like, your profession…), you’ll use the verb ser (to be) in the present tense.

Buenos días. Soy Ana. Soy profesora y soy de Madrid.

Good morning. I am Ana. I am a teacher and I am from Madrid.

Hola. Soy Antonio. Soy escritor y soy alemán.

Hello. I am Antonio. I am a writer and I am German.

Similarly, you can introduce someone else.

Este chico es Carlos. Él es italiano y es profesor.

This boy is Carlos. He is Italian and he is a teacher.

Este gato negro es Sol. Él es un gato bueno.

This black cat is Sol. He is a good cat.

Conversation: Saying Hello

Here is a short conversation to practice these phrases and vocabulary.

Pablo: ¡Hola, Ana!

Ana: Buenos días, Pablo. ¿Cómo estás? Ella es Laura, es actriz.

Pablo: Buenos días, Laura. Yo soy Pablo, soy músico.

Laura: Hola, Pablo. ¿Qué tal? ¿Cómo estás?

Pablo: Bien, gracias.

Exercises

Exercise 1

Exercise 2

Categorized in:

Communication