hola
/ˈola/
Hi in Spanish is hola.
hola is a friendly, informal greeting. Buenos días is used in the morning until around noon and Buenas tardes is used from around noon until late afternoon.
Meaning: friendly, informal greeting (intj)
How does it change in a sentence?
In written Spanish, an exclamation mark is used at both the beginning and the end of the greeting: ¡Hola!
How do you pronounce it?
/ˈola/
When do people say it?
Among friends, you might hear ¡Buenas!, which is a shortened version of Buenas tardes or Buenas noches used as a casual greeting. To ask how someone is, you can use the informal ¿Qué tal? or ¿Cómo estás? among friends or ¿Qué pasa? among close friends or colleagues.
Did you know?
- While 'hello' in English is often used to answer the phone, in many Spanish-speaking countries, people skip hola entirely when answering and instead use '¿Dígame?' or '¿Aló?'
- The word hola may have originated not as a friendly greeting, but as a command to 'stop!' or 'hey!' used to hail someone from a distance.
- In many Spanish-speaking cultures, a greeting like hola is often accompanied by a single kiss on the cheek or two, depending on the country.
Examples in context
- ¡Hola! ¿Qué tal estás?Hi! How are you?Tatoeba #535238 by Shishir, translation #30316 by Zifre
- Hola chicos, soy Mike.Hi guys, I'm Mike.This sentence shows how to use hola when introducing yourself to a group.Tatoeba #1020897 by Shishir, translation #1020895 by CP
- ¡Hola! Soy nuevo aquí.Hi! I'm new here.This sentence demonstrates using hola to say you are new.Tatoeba #1666523 by marcelostockle, translation #1654229 by Spamster
- Buenos días, señor García. ¿Cómo está usted?Good morning, Mr. García. How are you?
- Estimado Sr. López, le saludo cordialmente.Dear Mr. López, I greet you cordially.
- ¡Hola María! ¿Qué tal?Hi Maria! How are you?
- ¡Buenas! ¿Qué pasa?Hey! What's up?
- 75 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Mateo and Sofía see each other at a local cafe.
- MateoHola, Sofía.Hi, Sofía.
- Sofía¡Hola, Mateo! ¿Cómo estás?Hi, Mateo! How are you?
- MateoMuy bien, gracias.Very well, thanks.
- SofíaMe alegro mucho.I am very happy to hear that.
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.
