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Survival Spanish Part 1: Basic Greetings

So you're traveling to Latin America or Spain soon and you need to know some basic phrases in Spanish to help get you by! We'll go through a quick primer on survival Spanish to help you on your way! This tutorial will emphasize on greetings in Spanish so that you can introduce yourself and also greet people depending on the time of the day.




First, let's start with some basic vocabulary:

SpanishEnglishComments
EspañolSpanishmasculine noun
InglésEnglishmasculine noun
¡Hola!Hi
meI, me, myselfdirect/indirect/reflexive form for the first person pronoun
mimy
llamoI callthe present form of the indicative mood for the first person singular.
¿Cómo?How
teyoudirect/indirect/reflexive form of the second person pronoun
llamarto callinfinitive form
llamasto callthe present form of llamar in the second person singular
soyI amfirst person form of ser (to be)
nombrenamemasucline noun
esis, it is, is it
buenogood
díasdaysmasucline noun
tardeafternoonsfeminine noun
nochesnight, eveningfeminine noun
estarto be
estáisthird person of the singular verb estar (to be)


Great! Once you have mastered the basic vocabulary above, let's start with some simple Spanish greetings and phrases:

EnglishSpanishComments
Hi, I am called Romina.Hola, me llamo Romina.
Hi, I am Romina.Hola, soy Romina.
Hi, my name is Romina.Hola, mi nombre es Romina.
What is your name?¿Cómo te llamas?This is a more informal way of asking a person's name. ¿Cómo se llamas? is more formal.
How are you?¿Cómo estás?An informal way of asking how someone is feeling.
Good morning.Buenos días.
Good afternoon.Buenas tardes.Since tarde is a feminine noun, the adjective buenos is expressed in feminine form so it becomes buenas.
Good night.Buenas noches.Since noches is a feminine noun, the adjective buenos is expressed in feminine form so it becomes buenas.

Please try part 2 of our Spanish survival guide.


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