Learn how to greet someone
Now Playing: Lesson Audio
Get a breakdown of the dialogue and translations instantly with the Premium line-by-line Audio. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
| INTRODUCTION |
| Alisha: Hi, Alisha here. |
| Fernando: Bienvenidos, soy Fernando. Welcome, I’m Fernando. |
| Alisha: Formal Greetings in Mexican Spanish |
| Fernando: In this lesson you will learn how to greet somebody formally in Spanish. In other words, what to say when you meet someone of superior rank. |
| Alisha: It can be your teacher, your boss or simply someone in the street, who you don’t know. |
| Fernando: The conversation takes place at a school. |
| Alisha: And it is between a student, Ashley, and her teacher, Mr. Gómez. |
| Fernando: The speakers have different professional ranks, so they will speak accordingly, using formal Spanish. |
| Alisha: Let’s listen to the conversation. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| A: Buenos días señor Gómez |
| B: Buenos días, Ashley |
| A: ¿Cómo está usted? |
| B: Muy bien, gracias ¿y usted? |
| A: Muy bien, gracias. |
| Alisha: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| A: Buenos días señor Gómez |
| B: Buenos días, Ashley |
| A: ¿Cómo está usted? |
| B: Muy bien, gracias ¿y usted? |
| A: Muy bien, gracias. |
| Alisha: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| A: Buenos días señor Gómez |
| Alisha: Good morning Mr. Gómez |
| B: Buenos días, Ashley |
| Alisha: Good morning, Ashley |
| A: ¿Cómo está usted? |
| Alisha: How are you? |
| B: Muy bien, gracias ¿y usted? |
| Alisha: I’m fine thank you, and you? |
| A: Muy bien, gracias. |
| Alisha: I’m fine, thank you. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Alisha: So Fernando, they’re speaking formally in this conversation, right? That means there are formal and informal ways to speak? |
| Fernando: Yes, that’s exactly right. Which one you use depends on the person’s rank. |
| Alisha: What do you mean by “rank?” |
| Fernando: Well, it’s a bit complicated, but in Spanish-speaking countries, you have to be very aware of who is in a superior position to you, be it in age or professional standing, like, for example a teacher. Also, when talking to someone new, you are expected to use the formal word for “you”, ‘usted’. |
| Alisha: What about people who are younger than you? |
| Fernando: Normally, with people younger than you or with kids, you speak using informal speech. You use the informal word for “you”, ‘tú’. |
| Alisha: I see. What if you mess up and refer to someone using the wrong term? |
| Fernando: Well, it happens. Like you may refer someone using the casual form ‘tú’, and then realize he or she wasn’t comfortable. So you have to go back to “usted” and it’s not a nice feeling. |
| Alisha: Hmm, it does sound a bit complicated. So do you have to ask permission before you can move from ‘usted’ to ‘tú’? |
| Fernando: That’s right. But I think when in doubt, you should use ‘Usted’. If the other person thinks it’s okay to use ‘tú’, they will let you know. |
| Alisha: That’s good to know! |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Alisha: Okay, let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| The first word we shall see is: |
| Fernando: buenos días [natural native speed] |
| Alisha: good morning |
| Fernando: buenos días [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fernando: buenos días [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Fernando: señor, señora [natural native speed] |
| Alisha: Sir, Ma'am, Mr., Mrs., gentleman, lady |
| Fernando: señor, -a [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fernando: señor, -a [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Fernando: cómo [natural native speed] |
| Alisha: how |
| Fernando: cómo [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fernando: cómo [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Fernando: estar [natural native speed] |
| Alisha: to be (temporary conditions) |
| Fernando: estar [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fernando: estar [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Fernando: usted [natural native speed] |
| Alisha: you (formal) |
| Fernando: usted [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fernando: usted [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Fernando: muy bien [natural native speed] |
| Alisha: very well |
| Fernando: muy bien [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fernando: muy bien [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Fernando: gracias [natural native speed] |
| Alisha: thanks, thank you |
| Fernando: gracias [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fernando: gracias [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Fernando: y [natural native speed] |
| Alisha: and |
| Fernando: y [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fernando: y [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES |
| Alisha: Let's have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Fernando: The first phrase we’ll look at is.... |
| Fernando: Buenos días. |
| Alisha: Which means “good morning”. To go along with that, we also have - |
| Fernando: Buenas tardes. |
| Alisha: “Good afternoon”, or “hello”, and… |
| Fernando: Buenas noches. |
| Alisha: “Good night.” One more time? Repeat after Fernando... |
| Fernando: “Good morning.” ‘Buenos días’ (pause). “Good afternoon”. Buenas tardes. (pause) “Good night.” Buenas noches. (pause). |
| Alisha: The phrase for “good night” can also mean “good evening”, right? |
| Fernando: Sure! Buenas noches can be used to greet someone when they go into a restaurant or party at night. But it is also a way to say Goodbye when people go back home, or before they go off to sleep. |
| Alisha: So when you are at home ready to go to bed you say buenas noches? |
| Fernando: That’s right. Please note that these are formal greetings. You wouldn’t say Buenos días or Buenas tardes to your friends at school. |
| Alisha: What’s our next word? |
| Fernando: Muy bien. Muy bien means “very well”. Muy means “very”, and bien means “well”. |
| Alisha: This was the answer to “how are you” in the dialogue, right? |
| Fernando: Yes. ¿Cómo está usted? Muy bien. “How are you? Very well.” |
| Alisha: We translated it simply as “I’m fine” in the dialogue. |
| Fernando: And we’ll look at that a bit more in the next section. |
| Alisha: Great, and what’s the last word we have? |
| Fernando: Gracias. |
| Alisha: Many listeners may already be familiar with this – it means “thank you”. |
| Fernando: These two phrases go together very well – muy bien, gracias. “Very well, thanks.” |
| Alisha: Ah, I see! So in the dialogue these two are like a set. |
| Fernando: That’s right! |
| Alisha: Ok, let’s move onto the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
| Alisha: The focus of this lesson is greeting someone in formal Spanish. |
| Fernando: The main phrase we are learning is ¿cómo está usted? |
| Alisha: “How are you?” Now keep in mind that this is formal Spanish. |
| Fernando: Repeat after me - ¿cómo está usted? (pause) |
| Alisha: Fernando, let’s break it down. |
| Fernando: Okay.Cómo |
| Alisha: This means “how” |
| Fernando: está |
| Alisha: |
| Fernando: This is the verb… ESTAR. It’s conjugated in the third person form, está |
| Alisha: And lastly? |
| Fernando: Usted. |
| Alisha: The formal word for “you”. All together again? |
| Fernando: ¿Cómo está usted? (pause) |
| Alisha: We’ll learn how to ask the same question using informal Spanish in the next lesson, so stay tuned for that! |
| Fernando: But for now, let’s look at the answer for this. |
| Alisha: We actually saw it earlier in the vocab section. |
| Fernando: That’s right, it was Muy bien, gracias. |
| Alisha: Literally, “very well, thanks.” In the dialogue, we translated it as “I’m fine, thanks.” So, all together now. Listeners, please repeat. “How are you?” |
| Fernando: ¿Cómo está usted? (pause) |
| Alisha: I’m fine, thanks. |
| Fernando: Muy bien, gracias. (pause) |
| Alisha: Great! There’s one other little thing I want to mention. |
| Fernando: What’s that? |
| Alisha: After Mr. Gomez says “I’m fine, thank you,” he says “and you”? |
| Fernando: Oh, right. ¿Y usted? |
| Alisha: It literally means “and you”? |
| Fernando: Yes. ¿Y usted? |
| Alisha: Okay, so now it’s time for the listeners to come up with the phrases on their own. Are you ready listeners? Fernando will ask how you are. Please respond! |
| Fernando: Okay, here I go. ¿Cómo está usted? (pause) |
| Alisha: And the answer is? |
| Fernando: Muy bien, gracias. |
| Alisha: Great, Now let’s try it the other way around. Listeners, ask Fernando [pause] |
| Fernando: Muy bien, gracias. |
| Alisha: Great! How did you do? |
Outro |
| Alisha: Fernando, I think that’s going to wrap up this lesson! Thanks for joining us, everyone! |
| Fernando: Nos vemos, hasta luego. |
| Alisha: See you next time! |
Comments
Hide