Good morning in Spanish is buenos días (BWEH-nohs DEE-ahs), literally "good days" in the plural. It is polite enough for anyone and friendly enough for family. In Spain people keep saying it until they have had lunch, usually around 2 pm, and then switch to buenas tardes. A casual buenas works at any hour.
- Good morning
- buenos días
- Good afternoon
- buenas tardes
- Casual
- buenas
- Argentina, Uruguay
- buen día
- Level
- A1
When do you stop saying buenos días?
English switches to good afternoon at noon. In Spain the clock that matters is lunch, which is eaten late, so buenos días often lasts until two o'clock or so. Buenas tardes then covers the rest of the daylight, and in a Spanish summer that can mean until nine in the evening.
| Spanish | Literally | When, in Spain |
|---|---|---|
| Buenos días | Good days | From getting up until lunch |
| Buenas tardes | Good afternoons | After lunch until it gets dark |
| Buenas noches | Good nights | After dark, arriving or leaving |
| Buenas | Good ones | Any time; casual |
Why is it buenos días and not buen día?
Greetings for the time of day are plural in standard Spanish: buenos días, buenas tardes, buenas noches. The adjective is buenos because día is masculine, even though it ends in -a. Tarde and noche are feminine, which is why they take buenas.
In Argentina and Uruguay you will also hear the singular buen día, and it is perfectly normal there. Elsewhere, stick with the plural.
Buenos días, señora.
Good morning, madam.
Polite, to an older woman or a customer.
Buenos días a todos.
Good morning, everyone.
¡Buen día!
Good morning!
Argentina and Uruguay.
A household robot, unpacked in the family's living room, opens with the textbook version:
"Buenos días, familia Martín. Soy Útil. Estoy muy contento de estar aquí."How do you reply to buenos días?
Say it straight back. Buenos días answers buenos días, and you can add a name, a title or a question. Between neighbours and regulars it often comes with a nickname, even for pets. Doña Pilar, frying churros at her kiosk, greets the dog first:
Ve a Canela y dice: "Buenos días, detective".Buenos días. ¿Qué tal?
Morning. How are you?
Muy buenas.
Morning to you.
Casual reply, common in Spain.
Buenos días, don Andrés.
Good morning, Don Andrés.
Don or doña with a first name is a respectful, old-fashioned touch.
How do you say good morning to someone you love?
At home, people add a pet name and a question about the night. In Spain the question uses the present perfect, because the night is part of today: ¿Has dormido bien? In Latin America the simple past is more usual: ¿Dormiste bien?
Buenos días, cariño.
Morning, darling.
Buenos días, mi amor. ¿Has dormido bien?
Good morning, my love. Did you sleep well?
Spain.
¡Buenos días, dormilón!
Morning, sleepyhead!
To a boy or man; dormilona to a girl or woman.
Que tengas un buen día.
Have a good day.
To someone heading out; que tenga un buen día is the usted form.
Read short A1 Spanish stories that start in the morning, and tap any word to see what it means.
Read free in your browserFrequently asked questions
Does días need an accent?
Yes. Días is written with an accent on the í, which shows the i is its own syllable: DEE-ahs. Without it, the word would be read as one syllable.
Can you say buenos días at 1 pm?
In Spain, yes. Until people have had lunch, which is usually around 2 pm, buenos días still sounds natural. In much of Latin America buenas tardes is more usual after midday.
How do you say good morning, everyone?
Buenos días a todos. In a meeting or classroom you might also hear buenos días a todas y a todos, which names women and men separately.
Is buena mañana a Spanish greeting?
No. Mañana means morning (and tomorrow), but people do not greet each other with buena mañana. The greeting is always buenos días, or buen día in Argentina and Uruguay.
Is buenos días formal?
It is polite but not stiff, so it suits both a boss and a flatmate. For a formal touch, add usted or a title: buenos días, señor García.