Ways to say it
| Spanish | IPA | Note |
|---|---|---|
| saludo | /saˈludo/ | masculine |
| salutación | /salutaˈθjon/ /salutaˈsjon/ |
feminine |
| saludación | /saludaθjon/ (Spain, from spelling rules) /saludasjon/ (Latin America, from spelling rules) |
feminine, rare |
A greeting is an acknowledgement of a persons presence or arrival. In Spanish, common ways to greet others include Hola for "Hello", which works in both formal and informal settings. For time-specific formal greetings, you can use Buenos días for "Good morning" until around midday and Buenas tardes for "Good afternoon" from midday until early evening. If you are greeting friends or acquaintances, you might use the informal ¿Cómo estás? ("How are you?") or the colloquial ¿Qué tal?, which is a casual greeting similar to "How are you?"
Which one should you use?
saludo is the standard and most common way to say greeting in Spanish. In contrast, salutación is much more formal or technical. The form saludación is also feminine but is considered rare.
How does it change in a sentence?
The plural form of saludo is saludos.
How do you pronounce it?
/saˈludo/
Did you know?
- The root of saludo is the same as the word for 'health', salud. This means that when you offer a 'saludo', you are etymologically wishing someone good health.
- In many Spanish-speaking countries, a saludo between women or between a man and a woman involves a single kiss on the cheek, though the actual contact is often just a light touch of the cheeks.
- In formal written correspondence, saludos is often used as a closing sign-off, making it a 'greeting' that appears at the end of a letter rather than the beginning.
Examples in context
- Este es el saludo musulmán.This is the Muslim greeting.This sentence uses the word saludo to describe a specific type of greeting.Tatoeba #8868506 by carlosalberto, translation #6445358 by OsoHombre
- Buenos días, ¿cómo está usted?Good morning, how are you?
- Buenos días, estoy bien. Gracias. ¿Y usted?Good morning, I'm fine. Thank you. And you?
- ¡Hola! ¿Cómo estás?Hello! How are you?
- ¡Hola! Estoy genial, ¿y tú?Hello! I'm great, and you?
- Su saludo fue muy amable y sincero.His greeting was very kind and sincere.
Example conversation
Alejandro and Lucía meet for the first time at a party.
- AlejandroHola, Lucía. Un saludo cordial.Hello, Lucía. A cordial greeting.
- LucíaHola, Alejandro. Muchas gracias.Hello, Alejandro. Thank you very much.
- AlejandroEs un saludo muy formal, ¿no?It is a very formal greeting, isn't it?
- LucíaSí, pero es muy amable.Yes, but it is very kind.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “greeting” translations and entries saludo, salutación, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
