Which one should you use?
While hola is the standard greeting, you can use more specific time-based greetings like Buenos días, Buenas tardes or Buenas noches depending on the time of day. For a more relaxed and friendly greeting equivalent to "hey" or "hi", you can use ¡Buenas! In some Latin American countries, such as Colombia and El Salvador, the colloquial phrase ¡Hola, qué hubo! is a popular way to say hi.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
Hola is appropriate for almost all informal and semi-formal social situations. For a very relaxed and friendly tone, you can use ¡Buenas! If you want to follow up a greeting by asking how someone is doing, you can use ¿Qué tal?, which means "what's up?" or "how's it going?"
Is it said differently in some regions?
The colloquial greeting ¡Hola, qué hubo! is common in some Latin American countries, including Colombia and El Salvador.
How do you pronounce it?
/ˈola/
What mistakes should you avoid?
English speakers often mistakenly pronounce the 'h' in hola as an aspirated sound like the 'h' in 'hi'.
Did you know?
- The word hola likely shares a common ancestor with the English 'hello' and the Dutch 'hola', originating from an old command to stop or pay attention.
- In many Spanish-speaking cultures, saying hola is often accompanied by a physical gesture, such as a single kiss on the cheek or a light touch on the arm.
Examples in context
- ¡Hola! ¿Qué tal estás?Hi! How are you?This sentence shows how to use hola in a common greeting.Tatoeba #535238 by Shishir, translation #30316 by Zifre
- Hola chicos, soy Mike.Hi guys, I'm Mike.This sentence uses hola when greeting a group of people.Tatoeba #1020897 by Shishir, translation #1020895 by CP
- ¡Hola! Soy nuevo aquí.Hi! I'm new here.This sentence uses hola to introduce yourself as being new.Tatoeba #1666523 by marcelostockle, translation #1654229 by Spamster
- Hola, ¿Cómo está usted?Hi, how are you?
- ¡Buenas tardes! ¿Qué tal todo?Good afternoon! How's everything going?
- 75 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Mateo and Elena pass each other in a cafe.
- Mateo¡Hola, Elena!Hi, Elena!
- Elena¡Hola, Mateo! ¿Cómo vas?Hi, Mateo! How is it going?
- MateoMuy bien, gracias.Very well, thanks.
- ElenaMe alegro mucho.I'm very glad.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “hi” 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.
