Kilo Lingo
Part of Chapter 1

3 min read

Test yourself (17 questions)

Spanish Greetings and Survival Phrases: Say Something Today

Here is the good news nobody tells you at the start: you can hold your first Spanish conversation before you have conjugated a single verb.

Greetings and courtesies are fixed phrases in every language. Nobody assembles how do you do from parts, and you do not need to assemble the Spanish either. Learn the dozen expressions below as whole things to say, the way you learned thank you as a small child, and you can walk into a tapas bar, a video call or a Madrid street this afternoon and take part. The grammar is what makes the rest of the language open up. It is not a toll you have to pay before you are allowed to say hello.

So today, these are just things to say.

Greetings

. Hello, or hi. This is the one to learn first, because it works everywhere: any time of day, one person or a crowd, a close friend or a total stranger. If you remember nothing else off this page, remember .

. Good morning - literally good days. A touch more specific, and useful before lunch.

. Good afternoon. The same idea from lunchtime until the evening.

. Goodbye. The classic, and the one everybody knows already.

. See you later - literally until later. This is what most people actually say when they leave, because it quietly promises you will meet again.

Getting by

¿ ? How are you? The standard opener once you have said hello.

, . Fine, thank you. The standard reply, and worth banking as a pair with the question so the two arrive together.

¿ ? What's your name? - literally how do you call yourself?

Me ... My name is... Learn this as a pair with the question above: ¿ ? - Me Ana, and a stranger becomes somebody you have met.

One register note, and only one. Spanish has a friendly you (tú) and a polite you (usted), so to an official, an elderly stranger or anyone you would call sir or madam, the safer forms are ¿ ? and ¿ ?. Do not let that stall you: as a visibly foreign beginner you will be forgiven either way, and the tú forms above are the ones your first conversations will actually use.

Courtesies

. Thank you. One word, GRAH-thyas in Spain and GRAH-syas across Latin America. is thank you very much when you mean it.

. You're welcome - literally of nothing, as in it was nothing. The natural answer to .

favor. Please - literally as a favour. It softens a request, and Spanish speakers notice when it is missing.

. Sorry, or excuse me. It covers a genuine apology and a polite excuse me, could I get past alike.

No . I don't understand. Quietly the most useful sentence a beginner owns, because it keeps a conversation alive when everything else has fallen apart: it asks the other person to slow down or try again, instead of leaving them guessing.

/ No. Yes and no. Two of the shortest words in the language and two of the most needed - and note the accent on , which is what separates yes from if.

A quiet promise for later

Look again at Me and . Once you have learned how Spanish verbs work, you will see straight through these phrases. Me is I call myself, your first reflexive verb, smuggled in before you knew to be afraid of it. is of nothing, the same shrug English does with don't mention it. Nearly everything on this page comes apart into pieces you will recognise, and when it does, you will not so much have memorised these phrases as understood them.

But that is a treat for a later week. Today they are just things to say - so go and say one.

Practise: test yourself

Matching

0/5

Match each Spanish phrase to what it means. These are the greetings and goodbyes.

Matching

0/5

Match each phrase to its meaning. These are the courtesies - the words that keep things friendly.

Pick the right one

0/7

Pick the right phrase for each situation. Read the meaning, then tap the Spanish.

  1. How do you say 'thank you'?

  2. Someone asks how you are and you feel fine. What do you say?

  3. You want to ask someone's name.

  4. Someone asks your name and you are called Ana. What do you say?

  5. You didn't catch what someone said. How do you tell them?

  6. You bump into someone and want to apologise.

  7. Someone says 'Gracias' to you. What do you reply?

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Frequently asked questions

How do you say hello in Spanish?
Hola. It works at any time of day, to one person or a room, to a friend or a stranger, and it is the single most useful word to learn first. If you want to be more specific, Buenos días is good morning and Buenas tardes is good afternoon, but Hola never puts a foot wrong. To say goodbye, Adiós is the classic, and Hasta luego - see you later - is what most people actually say when they expect to meet again.
How do you say thank you in Spanish?
Gracias. That is the whole thing - one word, said GRAH-thyas in Spain and GRAH-syas across Latin America. The reply is De nada, literally of nothing, which is the Spanish you are welcome. If you want to thank somebody more warmly, Muchas gracias is thank you very much.
What is the most useful Spanish phrase for a beginner?
No entiendo - I do not understand. It is the sentence that keeps a conversation alive when everything else has fallen apart, because it tells the other person to slow down or try again rather than leaving them guessing. Close behind it is the name exchange: ¿Cómo te llamas? asks what someone is called, and Me llamo... answers it, and the two together turn a stranger into somebody you have met.
Do I need to know grammar before I can speak Spanish?
No. Every phrase on this page is something you can memorise as a single unit and use correctly today, before you have learned a single conjugation. Greetings, thanks and apologies are fixed expressions in every language, and Spanish is no different. The grammar makes the rest of the language open up later; it is not a toll you have to pay before you are allowed to say hello.