Spanish

Spanish	Meaning	Notes
*Hola*	Hello, hi
*Hola, aló, bueno, diga*	Hello (on the telephone)	The choice of telephone greeting varies with location.
*Adiós*	Goodbye	An informal alternative in some areas is *chao* (sometimes spelled ciao, from Italian).
*¿Cómo estás? ¿Cómo está?*1	How are you?
*Muy* *bien, gracias*	Very well, thank you
*Buenos días*	Good day, good morning	In some areas, a shortened form, buen día, is used.
*Buenas tardes*	Good afternoon	Buenas tardes also should be used in the early evening in preference to buenas noches.
*Buenas noches*	Good night	Buenas noches can be used as a greeting as well as a farewell. A general form is Buenas, applied to both afternoon and evening times.
*¿Cómo te va?* *¿Cómo le va?1 ¿Qué tal?* *¿Qué hay?*	How's it going? What's happening?
*¿Qué pasa?*	What's happening?
*¿Qué hubo?* *¿Qué más?*	How is it going? What's happening?
*¿Cómo te llamas? (Informal)* *¿Cómo se llama usted?(formal)*** 2	What's your name?	A literal translation would be "What do you call yourself?" or, somewhat less literally, "What are you called?"
*Me llamo Chris.*	My name is Chris.	A literal translation would be "I call myself Chris" or, somewhat less literally, "I am called Chris."
*Mucho gusto. Encantado.*	It's a pleasure to meet you.	These literally mean "much pleasure" and "delighted," respectively, so they would have different meanings in other contexts.
*Bienvenido, bienvenida, bienvenidos, bienvenidas* 3	Welcome

¹The first form (which is informal) normally would be used with someone you know on a first-name basis or when speaking with a child. The second form generally would be used in other situations. Usage can depend quite a bit on where you are; in some areas, the informal form (estás) would be expected where under the same circumstances the formal form would be used in other areas. If you're a foreigner, chances are no one will criticize you for using the wrong form, although you may be politely corrected.
²The first form normally would be used with a child, or possibly with someone of equal social status at an informal occasion. If you're uncertain which form to use, the second one is safer. Also see the above note.
³Note the difference in number and gender. Bienvenido would be used with a man, bienvenida with a woman, bienvenidas with a group of all females, and bienvenidos with males or a mixed group.