Greetings in Spanish

Greetings in Spanish

8 Phrases in Spanish and the One Thing I Didn’t Expect

I'm the only one in my family learning Spanish. My journey with the language is kind of a long story, but for this article, it’s not Important. Here is a little background on where the topic of this article came from. I asked a couple of family members if they were learning Spanish, what is the first thing they would like to learn? To my surprise, without knowing what the other person said, they both said greetings. As of the time this article was being written, if I were required to state where I am based on a level, it would be somewhere within intermediate. However, not at the beginning of the intermediate level. So, I can definitely provide some greetings.

There are a few things I want to make you aware of beforehand. I'm not a native speaker; I originally started learning in a classroom setting. Two, I now work with tutor(s) to better my understanding and ability within the language. My tutor(s) fall into two categories: Either they learned Spanish in a Spanish-speaking country or are a native speaker. I appreciate their insight and guidance immensely. Three, as with English, Spanish has different dialects and ways of speaking. Often, there are many ways to express the same concept. Therefore, no advice I give is likely to be the only way it is done. My instinct is to express statements based on their idea, because word-for-word does not always compute. Below are eight phrases with input on how my brain remembers or understands them. In addition, there are some things to be aware of and the one thing I didn't expect regarding greetings.

1. Let's start with Hola. It means hello or hi. Remember, do not pronounce the H. The letter H is always silent. Spanish has an h-like sound, but it does not come from the letter H.

2. Oye can mean more than one thing. In the context of a greeting, oye means hey. You have probably said 'Hey' before giving the voice assistant on your phone a command. I changed my voice assistant to Spanish a while ago and it only responds to oye, not the English hey. The training required to set up the voice assistant tells you to repeat sentences to get a feel for your voice. Those sentences start with oye.

3. Putting these next three together, buenos días,buenas noches and buenas tardes are good morning, good night and good afternoon. When possible, learn related things together. This will help you remember them. It's useful when you're learning areas are alike, related, or opposites. These greetings fall under those categories. Good morning and goodnight are opposites, yet they both fall under the related area of greetings and also behave in a similar manner.

There are two other things to point out. Make sure to keep things in agreement. La noche is feminine, therefore it's buenas noches, not buenos. The same is true for good afternoon. However, el día is masculine, so it’s buenos días. Pay attention to gender. It will help you in the long run. The general rule is if it ends in an A, then it's most likely feminine and an O, masculine. There are exceptions to the rule. For instance, using the word previously mentioned, El día ends in an a, but it's masculine.

The second point here is the word bueno. Bueno, without the s can have multiple meanings depending on context. Most often, I have seen it as okay or all right. It can also be used to say good. Like Qué bueno, meaning That’s good.

4. ¿Qué tal? As a greeting, this is what's up. I don't think there's a direct translation for it. It can also mean how about. For example, how about if we go to the movies? The how-about context is a new understanding for me. I only mention it to demonstrate how the same phrase or words can have entirely different meanings. Context is so important!

5. You most likely are aware or have heard of ¿Qué pasa?, even if you do not speak Spanish. It means what’s going on. You can also think of it as What’s up too. Although this sentence is in the present, when in a past tense form, the sentence is more of a what happened. So, with that logic, the present tense form can be used to say what's happening as well.

6. ¿Qué hay de nuevo? This is like saying what's new. It's one of those sentences where word-for-word doesn't quite align with English. But, the meaning is essentially the same. Word-for-word the sentence says what there is of/from new. As previously mentioned, I prefer to understand the meaning behind what is being expressed. As a beginner, grasping the meaning versus word-for-word isn't the easiest to do. However, focusing on meaning is especially helpful when sentences sound broken or do not make sense if said word-for-word in the other language. Another similar yet different example related to meaning is when words are completely different yet convey the same meaning. One way to say everyone in Spanish is todo en el mundo, literally saying all in the world. I bet you can see how the meaning is the same there.

7. ¿Cómo estás? How are you? To keep things in this article simple for you, I wrote the next one informally only. ¿Cómo estás? could be seen as a step past a greeting. It can be placed alongside a greeting, just like in English. Of course, you can respond with similar responses to English, such as: Estoy bien, ‘I’m well, Estoy mal, I'm bad, Estoy feliz, I’m happy,and No estoy feliz, I'm not happy.

8. Mas o menos is another good one to know because you are saying more or less. It’s an in-between response. It is somewhere in between well and bad. It can be applied to other situations too. For example, if someone asks if you understand them and you understand them partially yet not entirely, you can respond in that manner

Multiple greetings at once, know that it happens

When it comes to greetings, do not be alarmed if someone says multiple greetings right after each other before you have a chance to respond. It's something you want to be aware of. It’s a welcoming way some start a conversation. It's just like when somebody says, How’s it going? What's up? How are you? before you respond. Honestly, the first time I heard someone do this in Spanish, it was hard for me to comprehend because there was little to no pause. I was not expecting it! The person I was speaking with was a native Spanish speaker. Immediately, she switched back to English and said I know it's a lot; that's what we do. This moment gave me a new understanding of differences in greetings depending on who is speaking and how they grew up or were taught.

To end with, there are several different greetings in Spanish. The list in this article for sure is not all of them, nor is it the only way the sentences may be understood. Yet, it is how I understand them as an intermediate learner. The goal of this list is to give a beginner advice and insight on greetings other than what you may find on the internet. Although I started by learning the alphabet. Knowing how to greet a friend is a good place to start. I hope this article is helpful and provides a starting place on your language learning journey. My last piece of advice would be not to worry so much about the overall language. Focus on learning little by little. It really makes a difference.

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