Formal And Informal Spanish Greetings

Spanish greetings are fairly simple to learn, whether formal or informal. The formal ones are always proper, but informal ones can be used with relatives, friends, children, or those who are contemporary in age and met in an informal setting.

First of all, it is important to remember that greetings, like adjectives in Spanish, have gender specific endings. If you learn these at the beginning, it makes everything easier as you progress in conversation. For example, when you are introduced to someone, it is proper to respond with ‘Encantado’, which means ‘Enchanted.’ If you are female, you will say ‘Encantada’.

‘Hola’ means ‘Hello’ and is always the same. ‘Buenos dias’ means ‘Good day’ or ‘Good morning’, but in the afternoon and evening ‘Buenos’ becomes ‘Buenas” as it agrees with the feminine nouns of ‘tardes’ (afternoon) and ‘noches’ (night). Learn these terms phonetically at the beginning and you will automatically say them correctly. The ‘Buenos’ greetings are the most formal.

For formal greetings, it is polite to preface a last name with ‘Senor’, ‘Senora’, or ‘Senorita’. For those who you greet with a first name but would like to show respect for, the terms ‘Don’ and ‘Dona’ are used. When you are introduced to a new acquaintance, it is polite to respond with ‘Mucho gusto’, which means ‘Pleased to meet you’. In response to ‘Mucho gusto’, you may say ‘El gusto es mio’, or ‘… Es mia’, if you are female.

When greeting an acquaintance formally, it is proper to use their last name with ‘Senor’, ‘Senora’, or ‘Senorita’. For those with whom you are on a first name basis but still wanting to use formality, the term is ‘Don’ or ‘Dona.’ when being introduced, it is polite to say ‘Mucho gusto’, which means “I am happy to meet you’, and to respond to that with ‘El gusto es mio’ or ‘… Es mia’ if you are a female. You can also say ‘Encantado’ or ‘Encantada’, which means ‘Enchanted to meet you’.

Longer greetings add a few more words in formal speech. ‘Buenos Dias, Senor. Como esta Usted?’ is ‘Good day, Sir. How do you do?’ The answer may well be ‘Muy bien, gracias. Et Usted?’ (’Well, thank you. And you?’) to which you say, ‘Bien, gracias’. For answering the telephone, use ‘Bueno?’ or ‘Alo?’. There are other Spanish greetings, but these are the main ones and will get you started on your conversational way.

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