Ways to Say Hello in Spanish (and Other Spanish Greetings)

• Say hello in Spanish with "hola," "buenos días" (morning), "buenas tardes" (afternoon), and "buenas noches" (evening/night); say goodbye with "adiós," "chao," "hasta luego," "hasta pronto," and "hasta mañana."

• Introduce yourself by saying "Me llamo [your name]" and ask someone’s name with "¿Cómo te llamas?"; talk about where you’re from with "Soy de [your country]."

• Use salutations flexibly—Spanish speakers often say "buenos días" until late afternoon and "buenas noches" even if it’s not bedtime, and friendly conversation often starts with asking your name and where you’re from.

Are you wondering how to greet someone in Spanish? Or maybe you also want to know how to introduce yourself? These are some of the first things that are worth tackling when you're learning Spanish. If you’ve ever found yourself retreating from the flurry of questions and comments in the middle of a Spanish conversation, you’ll have realized that Spanish speakers can be very chatty. You can be sure that they’ll ask you for your name immediately, followed by dozens of other questions in rapid-fire succession.

Want to make a good first impression? Let us guide you through the best ways to start and end a conversation with someone in Spanish, armed with just a few useful example sentences. Then you can move on to some of the other Spanish words and phrases you’ll want to master from basics to intermediate and advanced subjects.

Informal Spanish Greetings

After learning formal greetings, it’s time to explore informal ways to say hey in the Spanish language. The most common and friendly greeting is ¡hola!—the Spanish equivalent of “hi” or “hello.” This quick, cheerful expression is used throughout the Spanish-speaking world and is perfect for casual situations. If you’re a beginner looking to learn how to say hello in Spanish, start with ¡hola! (pronounced “OH-lah”).There are many other informal greetings and ways to greet friends or acquaintances. For instance, “¿Cómo estás?” (“How are you?”) is a go-to phrase for everyday conversations. You might also hear “¿Qué tal?” or simply “Buenas,” a shortened version of “buenos días/tardes/noches” that works for almost any occasion. These expressions are easy to pick up and help you sound more natural as you learn to speak Spanish.If you want to discover different ways to say hello, try resources like a dictionary, YouTube videos, or language apps. Listening to Spanish from across different regions—like Spain (🇪🇸) or Latin America—will help you understand cultural variations. And don’t forget to learn some informal goodbyes, such as “Chao” or “Adiós,” to round out your basics. With these useful phrases, you’ll be ready to greet someone in Spanish with confidence, no matter the setting.

The Most Common Spanish Greetings

Know How to Say "What’s Your Name?"

After you learn how to say hello, the next step is to tell people what your name is!

Me llamo _______. — My name is _______.

Don’t let the conversation get one-sided, now… Here’s how to ask what someone else’s name is:

¿Cómo te llamas? — What’s your name?

Ok, so you’ve now broken the ice with your new Spanish-speaking friends. You can bet that they’ll want to find out more about you!

How to Say "Where Are You From?"

Your conversation partner might want to move things along with this next question:

¿De dónde eres? — Where are you from?

The appropriate response is to say where you're from:

Soy de _______. — I am from ______.

Try learning the names of countries in Spanish and putting them into this sentence. Start with your own, then practice pronunciation of Spanish-speaking country names.

Different Ways to Say Goodbye

There are many ways to say goodbye, too! To close a conversation, you can simply say ¡Adiós! — or use the colloquial chao (yes, just like they say in Italian!). If you expect to see the person again soon, you can always combine hasta (literally, “until”) with luego (later), pronto (soon) or mañana (tomorrow).Here's a quick review of ways of saying goodbye:¡Hasta luego! — See you later!¡Hasta pronto! — See you soon!¡Hasta mañana! — See you tomorrow!

Now It’s Your Turn

Now that you know how to greet people in Spanish, think about how you’d say:“Good evening! My name is Cristina and I come from Argentina. See you tomorrow!”