buenos días y buenas noches
/bwenos dias i bwenas not͡ʃes/from spelling rules
The English phrase "good morning and good night" is said in Spanish as buenos días y buenas noches.
This phrase combines two greetings: buenos días, which is used in the morning until around noon and buenas noches, which is used both as a greeting when arriving somewhere at night and as a farewell when leaving.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Mexico, it is common to say Buenos días for good morning, but the abbreviated form Buen día is also used for good morning in that region.
How does it change in a sentence?
The phrase buenos días uses the masculine plural adjective buenos to match the masculine plural noun días.
Did you know?
- In some regions, people shorten the greetings to just buenas to cover any time of day or night.
- In many Spanish-speaking cultures, it is considered impolite to enter a small shop or elevator without saying buenos días or buenas noches to everyone present.
- While buenos días uses the masculine plural, the greeting for the afternoon, buenas tardes, uses the feminine plural buenas.
Examples in context
- Buenos días, señorGood morning, sir
- Buenas noches, señoraGood night, madam
- Siempre digo buenos días y buenas noches.I always say good morning and good night.
- Diles buenos días y buenas noches.Say good morning and good night to them.
Example conversation
Lucía is teaching Javier how to greet people in Spanish.
- LucíaJavier, repite conmigo: buenos días y buenas noches.Javier, repeat after me: good morning and good night.
- JavierBuenos días y buenas noches, Lucía.Good morning and good night, Lucía.
- Lucía¡Muy bien! Lo dijiste perfecto.Very good! You said it perfectly.
- JavierGracias por enseñarme estas frases.Thank you for teaching me these phrases.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
