# 1 Greetings

Learning how to greet someone in another language is not just about learning the right words. Each culture has different customs which may vary, for example according to gender or level of familiarity. Let’s first look at how people greet each other in the Spanish-speaking world.

## Table 1 Expressions used for greetings

Hola. | Hello.
Buenos días | Good morning
¿Qué tal? / ¿Cómo estás? | How are you?
Muy bien, gracias. | Very well, thank you.
¿Y tú? | And you?

## Activity 1

Listen to the following people greeting each other and tick the names that you hear. You will hear five names altogether.

This browser does not support audio playback.

Transcript
Alejandro
Antonio
Marta
María
Guillermo
señor García
señor González
Manolo
Lola
Lucía

Now listen to the conversation again and tick the greetings that are used.

This browser does not support audio playback.

Transcript
Hola
Adiós
¿Qué tal?
Buenos días
Buenas tardes
Buenas noches
¿Cómo estás?

In Spanish and Latin American countries it is customary to greet female friends and family members by kissing them on one or both cheeks. Among men it is more usual to greet friends with a hug or a pat on the back, although some male relatives and friends kiss as well. In formal or business situations the norm is to shake hands.

The best way of judging what to do and thereby avoiding appearing too formal is to follow the lead of others or wait to see whether the person you are meeting offers an outstretched hand or leans towards you.

OpenLearn - Getting started with Spanish 1
Except for third party materials and otherwise, this content is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 Licence, full copyright detail can be found in the acknowledgements section. Please see full copyright statement for details.