How to Say "Hello" in Catalan

hola

[ˈo̞.lə]

The English word 'hello' is translated into Catalan as hola.

hola is the standard and most commonly used word for hello in Catalan. It serves as a general greeting.

Meaning: greeting (intj)

Which one should you use?

While hola is a general greeting, bon dia (good day) is more common and polite for greetings used during the morning or daytime hours.

Catalan has a unique way of saying 'hello' on the phone: instead of hola, people almost always start the call by saying alò.
In Catalan, the letter h is always silent, meaning hola is pronounced exactly like the word 'ola', which means 'wave'.
The word hola was borrowed into Catalan from Spanish.

Hola?
Hello?
This sentence is useful for showing how hola can be used as a question.
Tatoeba #13295230 by IvanAvzF, translation #3613319 by Thanuir
Hola a tots.
Hello everybody.
This sentence shows how to use hola when addressing a group of people.
Tatoeba #5163840 by gonsalet, translation #13076227 by Adelpa
Hola, amics.
Hello, friends.
This sentence demonstrates using hola when greeting friends.
Tatoeba #13238729 by mialiesperantistas, translation #13238520 by Sifaks
6 more sentences on Tatoeba

Marc and Laia meet on a street in Barcelona.

Sources

Wiktionary, “hello” translations and entries hola, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
Word origins: Wiktionary entries hola, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.

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