"Hi" in Spanish

Quick Answer

Hi in Spanish is hola.

¡Hola! (Hi!) and welcome to our article on how to say hi in Spanish. In this article, you’ll learn the most basic way to say hi and some other ways to greet someone in Spanish. Let’s get started!

Hi in Spanish: The Basics

Hi in Spanish is hola.

You may be wondering, “Isn’t hola hello?” Yes, it is. But it’s also hi. You see, in English we have two words to greet someone, and hi is more colloquial than hello. However, this distinction is not made in Spanish, and hola is used in either context.

Let’s take a look at two examples of hola in different contexts:

Hi in Spanish: Informal

Valeria:

¡Lucas! ¡Hola! No viniste a clase ayer. ¿Estás bien?

Lucas! Hi! You didn’t come to class yesterday. Are you OK?

Lucas:

Hola, Valeria. Sí. Estoy bien. Me quedé dormido antes de poner el despertador. ¡Ups!

Hi Valeria. Yeah. I’m ok. I fell asleep before setting my alarm. Oops!

Hi in Spanish: Formal

Dra. Gómez:

Hola, Martín. ¿Por qué viene a mi consultorio hoy?

Hello, Martín. What brings you to my office today?

Martín:

Hola, Dra. Gómez. Llevo una semana sin dormir bien. No sé qué me pasa.

Hello, Dr. Gómez. I haven’t slept well in a week. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.

Saying More than Just Hi in Spanish

Want to say more than just hi? Spice up your greetings with the following phrases:

Spanish	English	Formal or Informal
Hola, ¿cómo está?	Hello, how are you?	Formal
Hola, ¿cómo estás?	Hi, how are you?	Informal
Hola, encantado de conocerlo.	Hi, nice to meet you.	Formal
Hola, encantado de conocerte.	Hi, nice to meet you.	Informal
Hola, ¿qué tal?	Hey, how’s it going?	Informal

Note that you should use encantada instead of encantado if you’re female. Also, if you’re greeting a woman in a formal context, use conocerla instead of conocerlo.

Want more ways to greet someone in Spanish? Check out this article.

Other Greetings

There are multiple ways to greet someone in Spanish. Let’s check out some of the different phrases we can use.

Greetings That Depend on the Time of the Day

Just like in English, you can greet people by saying good morning/afternoon/evening! How do we say these three phrases in Spanish?

Spanish	English
buenos días	good morning
buenas tardes	good afternoon
buenas noches	good evening

Read more about buenos días and buenas noches.

Remember: Even though buenas tardes and buenas noches use buenas, it’s buenos días. Read more about buenos días and why we don’t use buenas días in this article.

Want to keep it short and sweet when greeting someone in an informal context? Just say ¡buenas!(hi!) It’s the shortened form of buenas tardes and buenas noches. And despite buenos días using buenos días, we still use buenas as a short, informal greeting in Spanish in the morning.

Welcome Someone in Spanish

Welcome in Spanish is bienvenido.

Another way to greet someone in Spanish is to say bienvenido. You’ll use bienvenido in the same contexts that you’d use welcome in English.

Remember that Spanish adjectives must agree in number and gender with the nouns and pronouns they describe. Modify bienvenido depending on the person or people whom you are greeting. For example: