hola
/ˈola/
In Spanish, 'hi' is hola.
hola is the most basic and widely used Spanish greeting. Other greetings include Buenos días (literally "good day") and Buenas tardes (used in the afternoon until early evening and means "good afternoon").
Meaning: friendly, informal greeting (intj)
Which one should you use?
While hola is a friendly and versatile greeting, it is less formal than buenos días (good morning) or buenas tardes (good afternoon).
Is it said differently in some regions?
The informal phrase ¡Qué onda!, which translates to "what's up?", is widely used in some Latin American countries, primarily Mexico.
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 in the English word 'hot'.
When do people say it?
In some Latin American countries like Argentina, people greet each other with a kiss on the cheek (beso) when meeting close friends or family members.
Did you know?
- In some linguistic theories, hola shares a historical connection with the Arabic expression for 'By God!'
- In Mexico, hola is frequently paired with ¿qué onda?, but ¿qué onda? literally refers to the 'wave' of a sound or ocean.
- Depending on the region, hola can be extended into holas in very informal digital slang to sound more affectionate or playful.
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.Tatoeba #1020897 by Shishir, translation #1020895 by CP
- ¡Hola! Soy nuevo aquí.Hi! I'm new here.Tatoeba #1666523 by marcelostockle, translation #1654229 by Spamster
- 75 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Mateo and Elena see each other on the street.
- MateoHola, Elena.Hi, Elena.
- Elena¡Hola, Mateo!Hi, Mateo!
- MateoHola, ¿cómo va todo?Hi, how is everything going?
- ElenaTodo bien, gracias.Everything is good, thanks.
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.
