There are, of course, different ways of greetings and farewells in any language. The fact is that not all greetings or farewells are verbal since we can just wave our hand, wink the eye, shake one's hand, or give him/her a hug. However, how to say Hi or Goodbye in different contexts or situations, at a different time of the day, and to different people? Here in this article, we will show you different ways of saying hello and goodbye in Spanish.
How to say Hi and Goodbye in Spanish?
Greetings in Spanish
There are many words, phrases, and expressions that you can use to say hello or say hi in Spanish.
- Hi - hola (informal)
This is one of the most common ways of greeting in Spanish. It can be used at any time of a day - Good morning - Buenos días
- Good afternoon - Buenas tardes
- Good evening - Buenas noches
- Have a nice day - ¡Qué tengas un buen día! / Qué te vaya bien! / Qué tenga un buen día! / ¡Qué le vaya bien!
Check out to see how to say Have a nice day in Spanish.
- It’s nice to see you - Que gusto de verte (informal)
- I’m glad to see you - Que gusto de verlo (formal)
- Long time no see - Tanto tiempo sin verte
- How are you? - ¿Cómo estás (tú)? (informal)
- How are you? - ¿Cómo está Usted? (formal)
- What's up? - ¿Qué tal?
- How's everything been going? - ¿Cómo te ha ido?
- How's it going? - ¿Cómo te va? (informal)
- How are things going for you? - ¿Cómo le va? (formal)
Greetings in a business letter
There are some common formulas for greetings in a business letter in Spanish.
- Sir – Señor
- Madam - Señora
- Miss - Señorita
- Muy señor mío Dear Sir
- Estimados señores/señoras = Dear Sir/Madam
Abbreviation Estimado Sr./Sra., Estimados Sres./Sras
- Dear Mr. Rodríguez, - Estimado Sr. Rodríguez
- Dear Mrs./Ms. Cruz - Estimada Sra. Cruz:
- Dear Miss González - Estimada Srta. González
- Dear Roberto, - Querido Roberto,
- Dear Ana, - Querida Ana,
- Dear Juan and Lisa, - Queridos Juan y Lisa,
Note: Since all Spanish nouns are either feminine or masculine, “querido” is used for male, “querida” is used for female, the word "queridos" is used if the recipients include people of both sexes.
You can check out to learn more about gender rules in Spanish nouns.
Farewells in Spanish
Some common words, phrases, and expressions that can be used to say goodbye in Spanish:
- Goodbye - Adiós (good bye)
- See you later - Hasta luego
- See you tomorrow - Hasta mañana
- See you soon - Hasta pronto
- See you on Friday - Hasta el Viernes
- Until we see each other again - Hasta la vista
- See you - Nos vemos
How to end a letter in Spanish?
In English, we often end a letter with "Sincerely" or “Yours truly”. Spanish offers a greater variety of ending a letter.
- Yours truly - Un cordial saludo
- Yours faithfully/sincerely - Atentamente/Muy atentamente
- Sincerely – atentamente / le saluda atentamente / les saluda atentamente
- Lots of hugs - Muchos abrazos
- I look forward to hearing from you. Yours faithfully - En espera de su respuesta, le/les saludo atentamente