Welcome to your very first Spanish lesson! Today you'll learn the most essential skill in any language — how to greet people. By the end of this lesson, you'll be able to say hello, goodbye, and ask someone how they're doing. These are the words you'll use every single day, so let's get started!
Learning tips
- Don't worry about perfect pronunciation yet — just focus on getting the sounds roughly right and being understood.
- Practice greeting people in Spanish throughout your day, even if just in your head.
- Notice that Spanish greetings change based on the time of day — this is one of the first cultural habits to build.
- Listen to how Colombians say 'chao' — it's borrowed from Italian and is very common in Latin America.
Warm-up & Active Recall
Dialog
Follow Valentina and Andrés through three encounters in one day in Bogotá. In the morning they meet at a café, in the afternoon they run into each other at the university, and at night they say goodbye after class. Notice how greetings change with the time of day: 'buenos días' (morning), 'buenas tardes' (afternoon), and 'buenas noches' (evening/night). 'Chao' is the informal way to say goodbye, very common in Colombia. When someone asks '¿Cómo estás?', you can reply with 'bien' (good), 'mal' (bad), or 'más o menos' (so-so).
Vocabulary
Active words
| Word | IPA | Translation | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| hola | /ˈo.la/ | hello, hi | The universal greeting — works any time of day |
| buenos días | /ˈbwe.nos ˈdi.as/ | good morning | Used from sunrise until about noon |
| buenas tardes | /ˈbwe.nas ˈtaɾ.ðes/ | good afternoon | Used from about noon until 6 PM |
| buenas noches | /ˈbwe.nas ˈno.tʃes/ | good evening / good night | Used after 6 PM — serves as both greeting and farewell |
| adiós | /a.ˈðjos/ | goodbye | Slightly more formal farewell |
| chao | /ˈtʃa.o/ | bye | Very common informal farewell in Colombia, from Italian 'ciao' |
| ¿cómo estás? | /ˈko.mo esˈtas/ | how are you? | Informal — use with friends and peers |
| bien | /ˈbjen/ | good, well, fine | The most common positive response |
| mal | /ˈmal/ | bad, not well | Used when things aren't going well |
| gracias | /ˈɡɾa.sjas/ | thank you, thanks | Essential polite word — used constantly |
Passive words
| Word | IPA | Translation | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| regular | /re.ɣuˈlaɾ/ | okay, so-so | When you're neither good nor bad |
| más o menos | /ˈmas o ˈme.nos/ | more or less, so-so | A common way to say things are okay but not great |
| ¿y tú? | /i ˈtu/ | and you? (informal) | Used to return the question informally |
| ¿y usted? | /i usˈteð/ | and you? (formal) | Used to return the question formally |
| señor | /seˈɲoɾ/ | sir, Mr. | Formal address for a man |
| señora | /seˈɲo.ɾa/ | ma'am, Mrs. | Formal address for a woman |
Useful chunks
| Word | Translation |
|---|---|
| muy bien | very well, very good |
| un poco | a little, a bit |
Grammar: Basic greetings and time-of-day conventions
| Time of Day | Greeting |
|---|---|
| Morning (sunrise–12:00) | Buenos días |
| Afternoon (12:00–18:00) | Buenas tardes |
| Evening/Night (18:00–sunrise) | Buenas noches |
Spanish greetings change based on the time of day, unlike English where 'hello' works anytime.
Buenos días is used in the morning, roughly from sunrise until noon. Buenas tardes covers the afternoon, from about noon until 6 PM. Buenas noches is used from 6 PM onward — and unlike English, it works both as a greeting ('good evening') and a farewell ('good night').
Notice that 'buenos' is masculine (matching 'días') while 'buenas' is feminine (matching 'tardes' and 'noches'). This is your first glimpse of grammatical gender in Spanish — nouns have a gender, and adjectives must match.
Hola is the all-purpose greeting that works any time, similar to 'hi' in English. You can combine them: '¡Hola! Buenos días.'
Exercises
Fill in the Blanks
Complete each sentence with the missing word.
- ¡ ! Buenos días.(a universal greeting)
- Buenas , ¿cómo estás?(an afternoon greeting)
- , gracias. ¿Y tú?(a positive response to 'how are you?')
- Buenas . ¡Chao!(an evening/night greeting)
- ¿Cómo ? — , un poco mal.(asking how someone is / a negative response)
Grammar Application
Choose the correct greeting or response based on the situation described.
- It's 9 AM. Which greeting? → (morning greeting)
- It's 3 PM. Which greeting? → (afternoon greeting)
- It's 9 PM. Which greeting? → (evening greeting)
- You're leaving. Say goodbye informally → (informal farewell, common in Colombia)
- Someone asks '¿Cómo estás?' and you feel great → (positive response + polite word)
Translation (English → Spanish)
Translate each sentence into Spanish.
- Hello! Good afternoon.
- Good, thanks.
- Good night. Goodbye.
- How are you? — Bad.
- Hello! Good morning. Bye!
Creative Construction
Write a short greeting exchange (2-3 lines) using the words from this lesson. Imagine you are meeting someone at different times of day.
Takeaway
Spanish greetings change with the time of day: 'buenos días' (morning), 'buenas tardes' (afternoon), 'buenas noches' (evening/night) — and 'hola' works anytime!