Good wishes (que)

When someone is heading out to an event or starting their weekend, you naturally want to wish them a great time. In Spanish, you can do this easily using just one word: que.

may / let (wish marker)
que

While que usually means "that," starting an independent sentence with it transforms your statement into a wish. It is essentially a shortcut for saying Espero que... (I hope that...).

Because you are expressing a wish, the verb that follows must be in the present subjunctive.

I hope you have a great weekend!
¡Que tengas un fin de semana estupendo!

Use this structure to wish friends a wonderful time at social events. Notice how the verbs (pasen and gocen) take the subjunctive:

Have a wonderful evening!
¡Que pasen una velada estupenda!
I hope you enjoy your farewell party a lot!
¡Que gocen mucho su fiesta de despedida!

You can also use it to wish for the event itself to turn out well:

I hope the celebration is splendid tonight!
¡Que el festejo sea espléndido esta noche!