Ways to say it
| Spanish | IPA | Note |
|---|---|---|
| buenos días | /ˌbwenos ˈdias/ | |
| buen día | /ˌbwen ˈdia/ | |
| buenas | /ˈbwenas/ | informal |
| buenas matinas (Americanism) | feminine, plural |
The greeting buenos días is used when seeing someone for the first time in the morning, typically from the early morning hours until around noon. After noon, you should switch to Buenas tardes.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase buenos días literally translates to "good days" in the plural.
Which one should you use?
While buenos días is the standard greeting for the morning, buen día is often used more as a wish for someone to have a good day ahead.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
buenos días is the most common and widely used phrase. buenas is a shortened, colloquial version used as a general greeting at any time of day, whereas buenas matinas is a feminine plural Americanism.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In some parts of Latin America, it is common to hear Buen día instead of buenos días. buenas matinas is an Americanism.
How does it change in a sentence?
The singular form buen día is used in many Spanish-speaking regions as a synonym for "good morning" or "have a good day".
How do you pronounce it?
/ˌbwenos ˈdias/
When do people say it?
A more informal and friendly way to greet someone in the morning is by saying ¡Hola! ¿Cómo amaneciste?, which translates to "Hi! How did you wake up?"
Did you know?
- The word día descends from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning 'heaven' or 'sky'. This makes it a distant relative of the Sanskrit word for 'sky' rather than a relative of the English word 'day'.
- When you use the short, informal greeting buenas, you are likely using a linguistic shortcut for the phrase buenas tardes, even if it is not yet afternoon.
- Although día is a masculine noun, the related regional greeting buenas matinas uses a feminine adjective because matina is feminine.
Examples in context
- Buenos días a todos.Good morning, everybody.Tatoeba #527255 by Shishir, translation #22122 by CK
- Hola Tom. Buenos días.Hello, Tom. Good morning.Tatoeba #1100827 by Shishir, translation #30314 by CM
- ¡Buenos días, cielo azul!Good morning, blue skies!Tatoeba #1457801 by marcelostockle, translation #1457802 by marcelostockle
- Buenos días, señor. ¿Cómo está hoy?Good morning, sir. How are you today?
- Buenos días. Que tenga un buen día en el trabajo.Good morning. Have a good day at work.
- ¡Hola! Buenos días / Buen día. ¿Dormiste bien?Hi! Good morning. Did you sleep well?
- 41 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Mateo and Sofía pass each other in a hallway at work.
- MateoBuenos días, Sofía.Good morning, Sofía.
- SofíaBuenos días, Mateo. ¿Cómo estás?Good morning, Mateo. How are you?
- MateoMuy bien, gracias.Very well, thank you.
- SofíaMe 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.
