Learn all you need to know about greetings in Spanish
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Intro |
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| Michael: How do you greet someone in Spanish at different times of the day? |
| Cesar: And are there any alternatives? |
| Michael: At SpanishPod101.com, we hear these questions often. Imagine the following situation: Ben Lee is greeting his friend, Ricardo Román Garza, but he hasn't noticed how late it has become. Ben says, "Good morning!" |
| Ben Lee: ¡Buenos días! |
| Dialogue |
| Ben Lee: ¡Buenos días! |
| Ricardo Román Garza: Ya es la una. ¡Buenas tardes! |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| Ben Lee: ¡Buenos días! |
| Michael: "Good morning!" |
| Ricardo Román Garza: Ya es la una. ¡Buenas tardes! |
| Michael: "It's already 1 p.m. Good afternoon!" |
Lesson focus |
| Michael: In this lesson, we will learn about time-sensitive greetings in Spanish. Just like English greetings, Spanish greetings change depending on the time of day. For example, in the morning, we use |
| Cesar: ¡Buenos días! |
| Michael: which literally means "Good days!" but is used to mean "Good morning!" This greeting is generally used from the time you wake up until about lunchtime. From the afternoon, we then use |
| Cesar: ¡Buenas tardes! |
| Michael: meaning "Good afternoon!" It is used from lunchtime until around sunset. After that, we use |
| Cesar: ¡Buenas noches! |
| Michael: This greeting can be understood as either "Good evening!" when used to greet someone after sunset, or as "Goodnight!" if said before going to bed. |
| Michael: Let's now take a closer look at the dialogue. |
| Do you remember how Ben Lee said, "Good morning!" |
| Cesar: ¡Buenos días! |
| Michael: Here, Ben said "Good morning," not being aware of the time of day. |
| Michael: Now, let's take a look at our second sentence. |
| Do you remember how Ricardo Román Garza said, "It's already 1 p.m. Good afternoon!" |
| Cesar: Ya es la una. ¡Buenas tardes! |
| Michael: In this line, Ricardo points out Ben's usage of an incorrect greeting. As it's past lunchtime (1 p.m.), he should say "Good afternoon," not "Good morning." |
| Michael: In this lesson, we've learned three greetings in Spanish that you can use depending on the time of day. Let's now see them used in some examples. |
| For our first example, imagine that it is around 8 a.m.: |
| Cesar: ¡Buenos días! ¿Cómo estás? |
| Michael: "Good morning! How are you?" In this case, "How are you?" was said in informal Spanish. If it were a formal situation, we'd instead have |
| Cesar: ¡Buenos días! ¿Cómo está usted? |
| Michael: As we've mentioned before, "Good morning" in Spanish can be used from the early hours of the morning until around lunchtime. |
| How about the greeting used at, for example, 3 p.m? Let's see it used in our next example: |
| Cesar: ¡Buenas tardes, Javier! |
| Michael: "Good afternoon, Javier!" |
| Recall that this greeting, meaning "Good afternoon," can be used from lunchtime until sunset, or while there is still light outside. Next, what greeting would you use at, say, 8 p.m., after the sun has set? Let's see another example: |
| Cesar: ¡Buenas noches, Marisa! |
| Michael: "Good evening, Marisa!" |
| As you know, you can also use this same greeting in Spanish before going to sleep. Let's see one final example: |
| Cesar: ¡Buenas noches! Hasta mañana. |
| Michael: "Good night! See you tomorrow." |
| Expansion/Contrast |
| Michael: Now, there is also a Spanish greeting you can use in all situations, formal or informal, at any time of the day, and that is |
| Cesar: ¡Hola! |
| Michael: which means "Hi!" or "Hello!" |
| It's a standard greeting in Spanish which is sure to come in handy, especially if you have trouble remembering which of the time-dependent greetings you should use. |
| Practice Section |
| Michael: Let's review the sample conversation: Respond to the prompts by speaking aloud, and then listen carefully as Cesar models the correct answer. Repeat after him her, with the focus on your pronunciation. Are you ready? |
| How do you say, "Good morning!" |
| Cesar as Ben Lee: ¡Buenos días! |
| Michael: Did you get it right? Listen again and repeat. Remember to focus on your pronunciation. |
| Cesar: ¡Buenos días! |
| Cesar: ¡Buenos días! |
| Michael: Let's move on to the second sentence. How do you say, "It's already 1 p.m. Good afternoon!" |
| Cesar: Ya es la una. ¡Buenas tardes! |
| Michael: Did you get it right this time? Listen again and repeat. |
| Cesar: Ya es la una. ¡Buenas tardes! |
| Cesar: Ya es la una. ¡Buenas tardes! |
| Cultural Insight/Expansion |
| Michael: We have gone over all the main greetings for when meeting someone in person, but how about when answering the phone? |
| In Spain, for example, there are many possible ways to answer the phone. Let's look at a few examples, starting with |
| Cesar: ¿Sí? |
| Michael: or, literally, "Yes?" This can also be said as part of a longer sentence, such as |
| Cesar: ¿Sí, quién es? |
| Michael: meaning "Yes, who is it?" |
| Moving on, another way of answering the phone is by saying |
| Cesar: ¿Diga? |
| Michael: or, literally, "Tell me." |
| Note that |
| Cesar: diga |
| Michael: is a formal expression, so it is used with older people, or people that we don't know very well. |
| In Mexico, there is another common way of answering the phone, which is by saying |
| Cesar: ¿Bueno? |
| Michael: which literally means "Good," but, in this context, is closer in meaning to |
| Cesar: ¿Diga? |
| Michael: or "Tell me." |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? |
| We're here to answer them! |
| Cesar: ¡Hasta la próxima! |
| Michael: Until next time! |
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