Hi, friends!
Today we’re going to teach you how to greet and say goodbye to someone in Spanish.
Now, this is one of the most important lessons we can give you because, whether you’re
talking to a taxi driver, a doctor, or friends, you’re always gonna have to greet them.
Now, not only is it polite, once you get it down, it will help you make new friends.
But before we get started, don’t forget that we are your resource to learn real-world
Travel Spanish, so hit the subscribe button, and let’s get started!
So, for the first part of the video, we’re gonna show you informal greetings.
This is how you would greet someone, an acquaintance, someone you’ve met before, and you see them
in the street, and you don’t have that much time to chat.
This is how you’d do it.
Keep in mind that we have English and Spanish captions available for this video.
You can turn them on if you get stuck.
“Buenos días” means “Good morning.”
Only use this in the morning, before noon.
“Buenas tardes” - “Good afternoon.”
Use this from noon until sunset.
The following examples are short conversations.
We will first play the whole conversation and then break it down for you in English.
Hi, May, what’s up?
What’s up?
How are you?
Well, and you?
Me too, well, take care.
Yeah, you too.
Goodbye.
See you.
“¿Qué onda?”
A very Latin American way to say “What’s up?”
This is used extensively in Mexico between friends.
Only use this in casual or informal situations.
“¿Cómo estás?”
means “How are you?”
This is probably the most common way to greet someone after “Hola.”
“¿Y tú?”
Any time you hear a greeting, you’ll probably hear this shortly after.
It means “And you?”
It’s polite to ask how the other person is doing.
“Cuídate” means “Take care.”
“Tú también” means “You too.”
“Adiós” The old standard “Goodbye.”
Used just as often in Spanish as “bye” is in English.
Hi, how is it going?
It’s going well, you?
Pretty well, thanks.
Okay, see you.
See you.
“¿Qué tal?” is a very general greeting.
You can use this with anyone regardless of their age or how well you know them.
It works just like the phrase “¿Cómo estás?”
“Nos vemos” is a common way to say “See you.”
Literally, "we’ll see each other."
Jaime, what’s new?
Not much, just here walking.
Me too, just here going for a walk.
Well, see you.
Take care.
“¿Qué cuentas?” means “what’s new?”
Like “¿Qué onda?” it’s very casual.
Use it with friends and people your age or younger.
“Aquí nomás” is a very informal phrase.
It means “Not much” or “Just hanging out.”
It literally translates to “Just here” but the whole phrase here was “Aquí nomás,
caminando” which means “Not much, just here walking.”
“También aquí” is the most common way to answer after “Aquí nomás, ¿y tú?”
It simply means “Me too, just here.” But we added “paseando” which means
“going for a walk.”
So the whole phrase is “También aquí, paseando.”
Now we’re gonna show you how to greet someone in a more formal situation.
Maybe when you are greeting your friend’s grandparents
or someone you wanna show more respect to.
Yeah, this is for anybody who is older than you or in a position of power that’s greater
than yours.
First, listen to this short conversation,
then we’ll break it down for you piece by piece.
Doctor Fernandez, right?
Yes, nice to meet you.
Nice to meet you. I’m doctor Larios.
How is it going? How are you?
It’s going pretty well, and you?
Pretty well, too.
It’s really nice to see you.
Likewise.
Have a good day.
Goodbye.
“Mucho gusto” means “Nice to meet you.”
“Soy la doctora Larios.”
May said “I’m Doctor Larios.”
When you are meeting someone for the first time you can say “Soy…” and then your name
or “Me llamo…” and then your name.
They both mean “I am…”
“Me llamo…”
literally means “I call myself…”
“¿Cómo está?”
Notice we used “¿cómo está?”
instead of “¿cómo estás?”
This is an important distinction.
You should always use the “¿cómo está?” form
in formal settings.
“Muy bien” means “Pretty well.”
This is another common way to answer the question “How are you?”
“Qué gusto saludarlo” means “It’s really nice to see you.”
If you are talking to a woman you should say “Qué gusto saludarla.”
If you want to use this phrase with a friend or in a more casual situation, you’d use
the informal way - “Qué gusto saludarte” for both men and women.
“Igualmente” in this context means “likewise.”
You’ll hear this often in smalltalk.
You could also use “Usted también” instead, which also means “likewise.”
“Que tenga un buen día” means “Have a good day.”
If you’re talking to a friend or someone in a more casual situation you would say
“Que tengas un buen día.”
Good afternoon. Are you the teacher Mayra?
Yes, nice to meet you.
Nice to meet you, I’m Santiago’s father.
How is it going?
Ah, pretty well. I’m in a hurry to go to work.
Okay, have a good day. Nice to meet you.
Likewise, see you later.
See you later.
“¿Es usted la maestra Mayra?” means
“Are you the teacher Mayra?”
“¿Es usted…?” followed by the name of the person or their occupation is a good
phrase to use when you’re not sure if you’re talking to the right person.
“¿Cómo le va?”
means “How is it going?”
If you were using this phrase informally you’d say “¿Cómo te va?”
“Que le vaya bien” just like “Que tenga un buen día” means “Have a good day.”
“Mucho gusto en conocerla” means “Nice to meet you” but it is only used when talking
to a woman.
If you want to say it to a man you’d say “Mucho gusto en conocerlo” or you can
always just keep it short with “Mucho gusto.”
“Hasta luego” means “See you later.”
Excuse me.
Yes, tell me.
Good afternoon.
Is this the tour bus?
No, the tour bus is the red one over there.
Oh, okay, good. Thanks a lot.
Yeah, have a good day.
Goodbye.
“Disculpe” which means “Excuse me” is a great word to use
when addressing someone you don’t know.
It is polite and can be used in any situation.
Use “Disculpe” with people you wanna show respect to or who are older than you.
Use “Disculpa” if you are talking to someone who looks your age or younger.
So we have shown you how to greet someone in a casual way, also how to greet someone
in a more formal way, but now we’re gonna show you what to do when you are greeting a friend
or when you are meeting someone for the first time and you don’t know if you should do
a handshake, give them a kiss, give them a hug, because in Mexico, hugging and kissing
is very common and we’re gonna show you how to do it right to avoid something like
this:
Jaime, what’s up?
Doing well, and you?
Uh…
I’m sorry… uh…
Yeah, don’t do it like that.
This is the right way to do it:
Number one: Hug the other person by the shoulders and
Two: Give them a “kiss” just by slightly pressing your cheek against theirs.
No lip contact.
Hi, how are you?
Hi, I’m well, and you?
I’m well…
If you are a male and you’re greeting another male, a handshake and sometimes a hug
is all you need.
If you’re a female greeting another female, do it just like we do in the video here.
Now we’re gonna go for a walk and show you how people actually greet each other in Mexico.
Good afternoon.
Hello, good afternoon.
Goodbye.
Good evening.
Goodbye.
Notice that some people say “Adiós” when passing by.
Good evening.
Goodbye. Good evening.
This much more common than saying “Hola” in Mexico if you don’t intend to stop and chat.
Goodbye.
Good evening.
Goodbye.
Goodbye, have a good day.
Thank you.
We know there’s a lot of information in this video, but if you wanna practice even more
head on over to our website at spanishandgo.com where we have a lot more resources to help you.
We’re gonna leave a link in the description.
Thanks for watching, and if you enjoyed this video, don’t forget to like and subscribe
for more travel and Spanish tips.
See you later!
See you soon!
I froze, I froze!
This is it, I promise!
[Laughs in Spanish]