These expressions will come in handy sooner or later! Greetings are very important for learning Spanish or if you plan to take the first steps to become bilingual, to get a job or to feel comfortable while traveling, without the fear of getting lost and not knowing how to speak to people.
Steps
Step 1. Decide what the purpose of your learning is
Do you do it for fun? Or will you go to a foreign country? There are several variants of the Spanish language, from that spoken in the Iberian Peninsula to the Mexican one. The variant you learn will depend on where you study and the origin of your teacher.
Step 2. Learn the following vocabulary for basic conversation:
- Hello - ¡Hola!
- Good morning - ¡Buenos días!
- Good afternoon - ¡Buenas tardes! - ¡Buenas! it is more informal and friendly.
- Good evening or good night - ¡Buenas noches! (in Spain it also means that you are going to bed)
- How are you? (singular and informal) - ¿Cómo estás?
- How are you? (singular and formal) - ¿Cómo está?
- How are you? - ¿Como están? (plural, both formal and informal in the Latin American variant)
- Well, thank you - Bien, gracias
- So-so - Más o menos
- Eh, we manage - Voy pulling
- I can't complain - No me puedo quejar
- And she? - ¿Y usted? (formal) / What about you? - ¿Y tú? (informal) / What about you? - ¿Y vos? (used in some South American countries, such as Guatemala and Argentina, very informal pronoun)
- I'm not very well - No estoy muy bien / No estoy tan bien / No tan bien
- I'm sorry - Lo siento (both formal and informal), perdón, disculpa (both informal) or disculpe (formal)
- Goodbye / Farewell - Adiós
- Later! - See you later! o ¡Hasta la vista!
- See you - Nos vemos
- See you tomorrow / See you tomorrow - Hasta mañana
- Please - Por favor
- Thank you very much - Muchas gracias
- About nothing / Nothing special - De nada / No hay de qué
- Pleased to meet you - Gusto en conocerlo (a) (formal singular), Mucho gusto (more common in Mexico and South America)
- Nice to meet you - Gusto en conocerte (informal singular)
- Nice to meet you - Gusto en conocerlos (plural and both formal and informal in Latin American variants)
- Pleasure - A placer (especially used to impress women) or Encantado (same general meaning; however, both of these greetings can be used with anyone)
- Health (when sneezing or when toasting) or God bless you - ¡Salud! (in some countries it is said ¡Jesús!, but ¡Salud! is more common)
- Ready (to answer the phone) - Dígame
Step 3. Pronunciation
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Never pronounce the h present in Spanish words: it is silent, just like in Italian. Hola and Hasta luego are actually pronounced ola and asta luego. The only cases in which a sound similar to the aspirated h of English is used in Spanish occurs in certain words containing the g and in those with the j. Jorge is pronounced, more or less, horhe (aspirating the j and g). But pay attention to the letter g: when you find the sounds gu, ga and go, you should pronounce a guttural sound, as in the word "cat"; when you read ge or gi, you should, instead, aspire it.
Say Greetings and Goodbyes in Spanish Step 3Bullet1 -
Try rolling your tongue when you say r in Spanish. The initial r, double and located after the l, the n and the s should be pronounced by rolling the tongue: Ramón, roca, irritado. All the other rs are soft and their pronunciation is more similar to Italian or English.
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In Spanish, the sound of y is the same as that of i, both Italian and Spanish, and there are no exceptions. The pronunciation is identical to the Italian one, even in diphthongs, such as miedo, sei, aluminio or caries. The same goes for the other vowels, which are pronounced just like in Italian.
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Advice
- Many speakers, mainly in Spain, pronounce the z (before all vowels) and c (before the e and the i) as the th is pronounced in English, for example in the word thorn.
- When you speak, keep in mind the use of accentation rules so as not to make mistakes in pronunciation. These rules must be learned by heart.
- If in doubt, there are websites such as https://www.forvo.com/listen-learn/ where you can listen to Spanish words and make sure your pronunciation is correct.
- Remember not to pronounce the h, which is silent, unless it is preceded by the c; in this case, the sound is like the one found in the Italian word “ciao” or in the English check or children: chico, charco, achicar, ocho.
- The ñ is a letter that is pronounced like our “gn” or as in the French word mignon or in the Portuguese word montanha. Therefore, the Spanish sound of ñ is the same as our "gn" and the French and Portuguese nh.
