Ways to say it
| Spanish | IPA | Note |
|---|---|---|
| buenos días | /ˌbwenos ˈdias/ | |
| buen día | /ˌbwen ˈdia/ | |
| buenas | /ˈbwenas/ | informal |
| buenas matinas (Americanism) | feminine, plural |
In Spanish, you use these phrases when seeing someone for the first time in the morning. Buenos días is a common way to say good morning.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase buenos días literally translates to "good days".
Which one should you use?
While buenos días is the standard plural form used for a greeting, buen día is often used as a wish for the day ahead, such as "have a good day".
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
For a more casual approach, you can use the shortened version buenas to mean "hi" or "hello". In very formal settings, you might encounter phrases like Es un placer darle los buenos días, which means "It's a pleasure to say good morning to you".
Is it said differently in some regions?
The phrase buenas matinas is an Americanism.
How does it change in a sentence?
Buen día uses the singular masculine form of the adjective and noun, whereas buenos días uses the plural. The form buenas matinas is both feminine and plural.
How do you pronounce it?
/ˌbwenos ˈdias/
When do people say it?
When greeting someone informally in the morning, you might hear the question ¡Hola! ¿Cómo amaneciste?, which means "Hello! How did you wake up?"
Did you know?
- The Spanish word día is masculine, despite ending in the letter a, which usually marks feminine words.
- The word día in buenos días shares a common root with the word for 'sky' or 'heaven' in Proto-Indo-European, specifically the root *dyḗws.
- While English speakers say 'good morning' to start a conversation, some Spanish speakers use buenos días as a polite way to end a brief interaction while leaving a room.
Examples in context
- Buenos días a todos.Good morning, everybody.This example shows how to use buenos días to greet a group.Tatoeba #527255 by Shishir, translation #22122 by CK
- Hola Tom. Buenos días.Hello, Tom. Good morning.This example shows how to use buenos días in a simple greeting for a specific person.Tatoeba #1100827 by Shishir, translation #30314 by CM
- ¡Buenos días, cielo azul!Good morning, blue skies!This example shows the use of buenos días in an expressive greeting.Tatoeba #1457801 by marcelostockle, translation #1457802 by marcelostockle
- 41 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Elena and Daniel meet at their office entrance.
- ElenaBuenos días, Daniel.Good morning, Daniel.
- DanielBuenos días, Elena. ¿Cómo estás?Good morning, Elena. How are you?
- ElenaMuy bien, gracias.Very well, thank you.
- DanielMe alegro mucho.I am very glad.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “good morning” translations and entries buenos días, buen día, buenas, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries buen, buenas, día, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
