One of the things I hate about learning a new language like Spanish is only being able to say the bare minimum. Yeah, I get that you need your roots before you can start talking like you actually know what you’re talking about, but I just imagine walking around in my own country and just saying ‘hello’ to everyone. It’s weird, considering we English speakers have so many different ways to say hello!
Language learning is awkward, but I don’t want it to be anymore awkward than it has to be! Therefore, I’m going to address 14 different ways to say hello in Spanish, no matter what level of Spanish you’re at!
Let’s start with the basics.
First up is hola. This is your basic, every day ‘hello’. It absolutely works in any situation you could ever find yourself in, but it gets boring after a while, and native speakers have a plethora of other words and phrases to use.
We’ve got como estás, which we’ve learned to translate (if you've taken the free lesson on how to create Spanish sentences), literally meaning ‘how are you’. Easy, right? We say the same in English, too! You can also go a step further to como está usted, something you’ll say to someone who needs a more respectful greeting. It still means ‘how are you’, just has a hint of formality, like saying ‘how are you sir’.
A really common one that you generally won't find in a Spanish textbook, depending on which country you’re in of course, is bueno or buenas. This literally translates as ‘good’, but can be used in virtually any situation to greet someone and sound like you actually belong.
This greeting is a shortened version of a couple other different ways to say hello.
We’ve got buenos días which literally means ‘good days’. You’ll find this phrase used an awful lot, too, usually used more as ‘good morning’ than anything else. Wait a few hours, and you’ll start to hear buenas tardes (pay attention to the a!), which means ‘good afternoon’.
Hint: if you have a hard time remembering the difference between buenos días and buenas tardes, look at the word 'tarde'. Say it out loud. Sound familiar? Does it sound kind of like 'tardy' to you? 'Tarde' translates to 'late' in English. So, which one's later - morning or afternoon?
Welcoming someone? Use bienvenidos, literally translated to ‘good come’, but better known as ‘welcome’. Not far off, huh?
What’s up?
Here’s the thing: there are several ways to say 'what’s up' in Spanish. Kind of like how we have ‘how’s it hangin’, ‘what’s going on’, and what’s crack-a-lackin’, Spanish speakers can use qué hay, qué tal, qué pasa, and como te va to say the same sort of thing.
If you know your ir conjugations, you can tell that como te vas literally translates to ‘how do you go’ (or how are you doing, in Spanish-speak); 'qué pasa' literally translates as 'what’s happening'. As for qué hay and qué tal, they have less direct translations, but they're still different ways to say hello in Spanish, and you'll definitely be faced with them!
Speaking of phrases...
Okay, let’s get into some elite beginner greetings, shall we?
First: 'long time no see'. In Spanish, this is tanto tiempo sin verte. Let's translate that, yeah?
Tanto tiempo sin verte. Directly translated:
So much time without seeing you.
Make sense? Let's give another one a go: 'how nice to see you'. This one is que gusto de verte.
Que gusto de verte. Directly translated:
What pleasure of seeing you.
Last, but certainly not least, we have the phrase 'how have you been?' This one's actually a direct translation to como has estado.
There are tons of different ways to say hello in Spanish!
Honestly, the list of different ways to say hello in Spanish is pretty much endless. Language is a living, breathing entity that is constantly changing. Did I miss any words or phrases you know about or like to use? Let me know in the comments below if you have any other different ways to say hello in Spanish!
Jamie
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Very interesting post, I did not know a lot of this.
If it gets up to 104, they need air conditioning!
In England most washing machines are in the kitchen too, it is weird to me, so interesting that is how it is in Spain too.
Yes, I think they need air conditioning as well, but I suppose they’ve gotten used to grinning and bearing it!
I love cultural insights. Being Australian I think we have a lot in common with our expectation of space and airconditioning! In fact, it is the lack of space that really bugs me living in the UK. There are people everywhere and I feel claustrophobic sometimes. Having said that, the focus on family, ‘just enough’ stuff and spending time with each other instead of in our rooms is increasingly important to me now I have my own children. I’m hoping to take ‘the best bits’ of the cultures I experience and make them my own. Thanks for sharing Jamie
Taking my favorite bits of foreign cultures and putting them into my everyday life is one of the most important parts of travel to me, as well. I mention in another post about how living in Europe made me more physically active, even when I’m back home in America. I love it!
Sorry, but as a Spaniard I have to say your impressions about wine and beer make no sense at all to me.
Most mid-budget restaurants upwards, and many cheaper ones definitely have more than just “red wine” or “white wine”. They’ll have at least a few reds, a few whites, and maybe rosés and sparkling wines. In many cases, they’ll be listed in a special section on the menu, in others, mainly in more upmarket restaurants, there’ll be a wine list. I honestly don’t know which restaurants you may have frequented in Spain, where they were and how many different ones to make such baffling generalisations about “restaurants in Spain”.
As for wine being cheap in Spain, sure, if you go for the cheaper ones or order a glass of the “house wine” without asking what is it. Do some research online, though, and see if you find a shortage of more expensive Spanish wines (hint: you won’t).
Never order a “cerveza”? Why not? If you don’t specify, the waiter will ask if you want a “copa”, a “caña”, a “doble” and so on, and you can always order bottled beer if you prefer it. Many cheap regular bars won’t have more than one kind of draught beer, as you say, but even those will probably have one or two other brands of bottled beer for sure. And that’s your more basic neighbourhood bars. Anywhere else, you’re likely to have a much wider choice of both national and imported beers.
I apologize if I come across as a little blunt, but it seems to me you’re making generalisations without having the necessary knowledge and experience to do so.
I understand if you feel I am making generalizations, because I am, quite frankly. These are general trends that I’ve noticed in Spain. That isn’t to say that different restaurants aren’t different, or that someone else might experience something more similar to your experiences! As a foreigner living in Spain, these were things that stood out to me, as they were different from my experiences back home. These were my impressions and nothing else. Maybe I only happened upon the restaurants that did these things, but that is the way of the traveler - it’s hard to truly experience life the way locals do, especially in international cities.
Thank you for your input, it’s important to get a local’s idea of my own experiences as a foreigner!