Why is it important to know how to say hello in Spanish?

Learning a few ways to say hi in Spanish will take no time and will go a long way with Spanish speakers. Whether you’re planning a trip to a Spanish-speaking country or have just met some Spanish speakers in your hometown, being able to greet someone in Spanish will be greatly appreciated.

Moreover, taking the time to hammer out the pronunciation of a few basic greetings will allow you to pronounce other Spanish words more accurately. As you may know, Spanish vowels sound very different from English vowels. Having a few greetings under your belt will maximize your chances of pronouncing other Spanish words correctly – even if you’re unfamiliar.

Plus, if you decide to learn Spanish in the future, either online or by taking in-person classes, you will have a much easier time getting started with the curriculum. Learning a few basic greetings is a great way to dip your toes in the language before fully committing.

Firstly, how do you actually say “hello” and “hi” in Spanish?

Okay, you’ve probably already heard somewhere that Hola means “hello” in Spanish. But what is the proper pronunciation of “hello” in Spanish?

As mentioned, Spanish pronunciation is very different from English pronunciation. If you try to read Hola as if it were an English word, you’ll have a hard time convincing someone that you put in any effort into your Spanish.

You want to make sure that your greeting sounds authentic. Take a look at the first few seconds of the following video to see how former President Barack Obama greets the crowd in Peru.

Did you notice how the crowd went wild after a simple Hola Perú? That’s the power of a well-delivered greeting!

You should take some time ...

... to review the Spanish alphabet and the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) to learn how to say hello in Spanish properly. Understanding the IPA will allow you to accurately pronounce any Spanish greeting without the need for memorizing pronunciations.

You can watch this short YouTube video that goes over every letter in the Spanish alphabet and its corresponding IPA.

77 other different ways to say hi in Spanish

In our guide below, we will list the English greeting followed by the equivalent Spanish greeting, followed up with the IPA. Now, let’s get into the greetings!

Common greetings in Spanish

English Spanish IPA pronunciation
Hello Hola ˈola
How are you? ¿Cómo estás? ˈkomo ɛsˈtas
Greetings Saludos saˈluðos
Hello everyone Hola a todos ˈola a ˈtoðos
Hi guys Hola muchachos ˈola muˈʧaʧos
Hi, nice to meet you Hola, mucho gusto ˈola ˈmuʧo ˈɣusto
Hi, how are you? Hola, ¿qué tal? ˈola ˈke ​​ˈtal
Hi, how's it going? Hola, ¿cómo te va? ˈola ˈkomo te ˈβa
Hi, how've you been? Hola, ¿cómo has estado? ˈola ˈkomo ˈas ɛsˈtaðo

Casual and informal greetings in Spanish

English Spanish IPA pronunciation
Hey Hey ˈei̯
Hi, there! ¡Hola, hola! ˈola ˈola
Hi, my love Hola, mi amor ˈola mj aˈmoɾ
Hey! ¡Oye! ˈoʝe
What's up? ¿Qué onda? ˈke ˈõnda
What's new? ¿Qué hay de nuevo? ˈke ˈai̯ ðe ˈnweβo
What's going on? ¿Qué pasa? ˈke ˈpasa
Tell me what's new ¿Qué me cuentas? ˈke me ˈkwɛ̃ntas
How's everything going? ¿Cómo va todo? ˈkomo ˈba ˈtoðo
Hi, what a pleasure [seeing you] Hola, qué gusto ˈola ˈke ˈɡusto
Hi Holi ˈoli

Formal greetings in Spanish

English Spanish IPA pronunciation
Hi, how are you? Hola, ¿cómo está? ˈola ˈkomo ɛsˈta
Hi, how have you been? Hola, ¿cómo le va? ˈola ˈkomo le ˈβa
Hi, it's a pleasure [to meet you] Hola, un placer ˈola ũm plaˈsɛɾ
Delighted [to meet you] Encantado/a ɛ̃nkãntaˈðoa
Hi, it's a pleasure [seeing you] Hola, un gusto de verlo/a ˈola ũn ˈɡusto ðe βɛɾˈloa

Email greetings in Spanish

English Spanish IPA pronunciation
Dear Estimado/a ɛstimaˈðoa
Beloved Querido/a kɛɾiˈðoa
Distinguished Distinguido/a distĩnɡiˈðoa
To whom it may concern A quién corresponda a ˈkjɛ̃n korɛsˈpõnda

Morning greetings in Spanish

English Spanish IPA pronunciation
Good morning Buenos días ˈbwenos̬ ˈðias
Good day Buen día ˈbwen ˈðia
Morning! ¡Buenos! ˈbwenos̬
Good morning, sunshine Buenos días, solecito ˈbwenos̬ ˈðias soleˈsito

Afternoon greetings in Spanish

English Spanish IPA pronunciation
Good afternoon Buenas tardes ˈbwenas̬ ˈtaɾðes̬
Good day ¡Buenas! ˈbwenas̬
Good evening Buenas noches ˈbwenas̬ ˈnoʧes

How to answer the phone in Spanish

English Spanish IPA pronunciation
Hello? ¿Hola? ˈola
Yes? ¿Sí? ˈsi
Hello? ¿Aló? aˈlo
Hello? ¿Bueno? ˈbweno
Go ahead ¿Diga? ˈdiɣa
Tell me Dígame ˈdiɣame

Country-specific greetings

Spain:

English Spanish IPA pronunciation
Hi dude Hola, tío ˈola ˈtio
How's it going? ¿Cómo andas? ˈkomo ˈãndas
How have you been? ¿Qué es de tu vida? ˈke ˈɛs̬ ðe tu ˈβiða
How's it going? ¿Cómo va la cosa? ˈkomo ˈba la ˈkosa
What's new? ¿Qué te cuentas? ˈke te ˈkwɛ̃ntas

Mexico:

English Spanish IPA pronunciation
What's up, dude? ¿Qué onda, güey? ˈke ˈõnda ˈɡwei̯
What's up? ¿Qué hubo? ˈke ˈuβo
What's up? Quiúbole ˈkjuβole
What's up? ¿Qué rollo? ˈke ˈroʝo
What's up? ¿Qué pex? ˈke ˈpeks
Friend! ¡Amigo/a! aˈmiɣo/a
What's going on? ¿Qué tranza? ˈke ˈtɾãnsa
What's going on? ¿Qué pasión? ˈke paˈsjõn

Argentina:

English Spanish IPA pronunciation
Good day! ¡Buenas y santas! ˈbwenas̬ i ˈsãntas
Purest Virgin Mary! ¡Ave María Purísima! ˈaβe maˈɾia puˈɾisima

Colombia:

English Spanish IPA pronunciation
What's up? ¿Quiubo? ˈkjuβo
What else is new? ¿Qué más pues? ˈke ˈmas ˈpwes
Good, or what? Bien, ¿o qué? ˈbjɛn o ˈke
Good, or no? Bien, ¿o no? ˈbjɛn o ‘no
What's new with you? ¿Y tú de qué? ˈi tu ðe ˈke

Chile:

English Spanish IPA pronunciation
How are you? ¿Cómo estái? ˈkomo ɛsˈtaj
Good day Wena ˈwena
Hey, dude Hola, weón ˈola weˈõn

Venezuela:

English Spanish IPA pronunciation
Hello! ¡Épale! ˈepale
What's up, dad? ¿Qué pasó, papá? ˈke paˈso paˈpa
What's up, comrade? ¿Qué hubo, compadre? ˈke ˈuβo kõmˈpaðɾe
Talk to me Háblame ˈaβlame

Peru:

English Spanish IPA pronunciation
What's up? Hola causa ˈola ˈkau̯sa
What's up? Habla causa ˈaβla ˈkau̯sa
What's up, dude? Qué tal weo ˈke ˈtal ˈweo

Dominican Republic:

English Spanish IPA pronunciation
Hi, bro Hola, manin ˈola ˈmanĩn
Tell me! ¡Dímelo! ˈdimelo
Sing to me, tiger! ¡Dímelo cantando, tigre! ˈdimelo kãnˈtãndo ˈtiɣɾe
What is what? ¿Qué es lo que es? ˈke ˈɛs̬ lo ˈke ˈɛs̬

FAQs for Spanish greetings

If you’re visiting a Spanish-speaking country or made friends with Spanish speakers, you’ll notice that people tend to be a lot more comfortable greeting their friends. Whereas nicknames are generally not okay in a formal setting, calling your friend a nickname is almost a must if you’re close.

Nicknames and pronouns are commonly used as terms of endearment. In an informal setting, you can expect to be greeted by your friends with a hola, güey, hola weón, or hola tío, depending on the culture.

In a formal setting, you may see the formal usted construction being used. Hola, ¿cómo estás? becomes hola, ¿cómo está?. Nicknames are best left out of these situations.

The most common Spanish greeting faux-pas is not being formal enough or being overly formal. If you’re addressing a formal supervisor, you will want to stick with the formal usted until they explicitly ask you to not use formal pronouns with them.

In some cultures, you may also be expected to address anyone older than you with the formal usted. This is highly regional and dependent on cultural contexts, so your best bet is to ask a close friend ahead of time what the expectations are. When in doubt, always go with the formal usted as being overly formal is usually less of a problem.

You’ve mastered saying hi in Spanish – what next?

As you can see, Spanish as a language is as diverse as the cultures that speak it. However, you can master many ways to say hello in Spanish with perfect fluency with a bit of practice.

Consider this the first step in an exciting journey that will allow you to communicate with hundreds of millions of people all around the world. Though it may seem challenging now, we promise you will grow to appreciate and love all the different ways to say hi in Spanish!