hola amigo
/ola amiɡo/from spelling rules
The English phrase 'hey friend' is translated into Spanish as hola amigo.
hola amigo is an informal greeting used to say hello to a friend. While hola literally means 'hello', it is the standard way to translate the casual 'hey' in this specific greeting.
Which one should you use?
While hola means 'hello', it is used here to capture the casual tone of 'hey'.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Latin America, a popular informal way to say 'What's up, friend?' is ¿Qué onda, amigo/a? In Spain, it is common to say ¡Hola, tío/tía!, which means 'Hello, dude/gal!' Argentinians often use ¡Hola, che! to greet their friends.
How does it change in a sentence?
Use the masculine amigo for male friends and the feminine amiga for female friends.
Did you know?
- In Spain, calling your friend tío is more common than using amigo, even though it literally translates to 'uncle'.
- If you use hola to get someone's attention in a hurry, you are using a word that historically meant 'hey, stop!' to halt a person or a ferryman.
- The greeting ¿Qué onda, amigo? uses the word onda, which literally means 'wave' as in the ocean, to ask how things are going.
Example conversation
Two friends meet at a cafe.
- Alejandro¡Hola amigo! Qué gusto verte.Hey friend! It's great to see you.
- MaríaHola Alejandro, yo también.Hello Alejandro, me too.
- Alejandro¿Quieres tomar un café?Do you want to have a coffee?
- MaríaSí, me encantaría.Yes, I would love to.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries amigo, hola, CC BY-SA 4.0.
