This Spanish Easy Review grammar quiz takes a look at greetings. What are greetings? Greetings are verbal and non-verbal communications exchanged between people when they meet. Part of the greeting is the 'hello', part is the response given to the hello and part is the ending of the greeting when people go their separate ways or say their 'good-bye'. Just as in English we say - hi, hello, how are you, how have you been, how do you feel, what’s been happening, etc., so too in Spanish are there methods of greeting someone and ways to respond to those greetings. In addition, there are also several ways to say good-bye.
As you advance in your Spanish classes, your greetings vocabulary and understanding of the language will increase to a point that you will be able to greet and answer in many more ways. For now, let’s focus on learning some of the following basic greetings.
English | Spanish | Pronounced (Phonetically) As |
---|---|---|
hi, hello, howdy | hola | ō-lă (the 'h' is silent) |
good afternoon | buenas tardes | bwain-ăs tăr-děs |
welcome | bienvenido (male) | bē-ěn-věn-ē-dō |
welcome | bienvenida (female) | bē-ěn-věn-ē-dă |
What’s up - or what’s happening | qué tal | kāy-tăl |
How are you | cómo está | cō-mō ěs-tăh (Note that the first 'o' has an accent mark. This means that the first 'o' gets a stronger sound to it than the second 'o' even though they both have a long 'o' sound.) |
English | Spanish | Pronounced (Phonetically) As |
---|---|---|
good-bye | adiós | ă-dē-ōse |
good-day | buen día | bwain dē-ă |
good-night | buenas noches | bwain-ăs nō-chěz |
see you later or until later | hasta luego | ă-stă lew-ā-gō |
see you soon | hasta la vista | ă-stă lă vē-stă |
until tomorrow | hasta mañana | ă-stă mă-nnă-nă (Note the tilde over the 'n' gives you a nasal sound.) |
English | Spanish | Pronounced (Phonetically) As |
---|---|---|
well, okay, alright and fine | bien | bē-ěn |
good | bueno (male) | bwain-ō |
good | buena (female) | bwain-ă |
bad | mal | măl |
rotten, wicked | malo (male) | măl-ō |
rotten, wicked | mala (female) | măl-ă |
happy | feliz | fāy-lēz |
OK | vale (note that this response is generally only used in Spain) | văl-ā |
Practice always makes perfect so the more you practice these geetings, the more perfect you will be able to speak and say them later on. Now, if you believe you are ready, then move on to the quiz questions and see how well you can do on your Spanish greetings!