Greetings and Farewells | Spanish (Latin America) Grammar

Greetings and farewells are the first phrases anyone needs, and Latin America offers a rich variety. This page covers the standard forms and the most common regional expressions you will hear.

Time-of-day greetings

The formal, neutral way to greet someone depends on the time of day.

Buenos días.

Good morning.

Buenas tardes.

Good afternoon.

Buenas noches.

Good evening. / Good night.

Buenas noches is used both to greet someone at night and to say goodnight when leaving.

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In casual speech across much of Latin America, you will often hear just buenas (short for buenas tardes/noches) as a quick, friendly hello at any non-morning hour.

Casual hellos

Hola.

Hi.

¿Qué tal?

How's it going?

¿Cómo estás?

How are you?

¿Cómo está usted?

How are you? (formal)

¿Cómo te va?

How are you doing?

¿Qué onda?

What's up? (Mexico)

¿Qué más?

What's up? (Colombia)

¿Cómo andas?

How are you doing? (Argentina)

Responses

Bien, gracias. ¿Y tú?

Good, thanks. And you?

Muy bien, gracias.

Very well, thank you.

Más o menos.

So-so.

Todo bien.

All good.

Aquí andamos.

Getting by. / Here we are.

Farewells

Spanish has many ways to say goodbye, from formal to very casual.

Adiós.

Goodbye.

Hasta luego.

See you later.

Hasta mañana.

See you tomorrow.

Hasta pronto.

See you soon.

Nos vemos.

See you.

Chau.

Bye. (casual)

Que tengas un buen día.

Have a good day.

Que te vaya bien.

Take care. / Hope it goes well.

Cuídate.

Take care of yourself.

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Chau (sometimes spelled chao) comes from the Italian ciao and is the most frequent casual goodbye in South America and parts of Central America. In Mexico, bye (pronounced bai) is also very common in casual speech among younger people.

Regional touches

Each country has its own favorites. Here are a few that stand out.

Country/region	Casual hello	Casual goodbye
Mexico	¿Qué onda?	Nos vemos, bye
Argentina, Uruguay	¿Cómo andás?	Chau, nos vemos
Colombia	¿Quiubo? ¿Qué más?	Chao, que esté bien
Chile	¿Cómo estai?	Chao, nos vemos
Peru	¿Qué tal? ¿Cómo estás?	Chau, nos vemos

Notice that in voseo regions, you may hear ¿Cómo andás? and ¿Cómo estás vos? instead of ¿Cómo andas?

Complete exchange

—Hola, ¿cómo estás? —Bien, ¿y tú? —Todo bien, gracias.

—Hi, how are you? —Good, and you? —All good, thanks.

—Buenas tardes, señora. —Buenas tardes, joven.

—Good afternoon, ma'am. —Good afternoon, young man.