Ways to say it
| Spanish | IPA | Note |
|---|---|---|
| buenos días | /ˌbwenos ˈdias/ | |
| buen día | /ˌbwen ˈdia/ | |
| buenas | /ˈbwenas/ | informal |
| buenas matinas (Americanism) | feminine, plural |
Spanish speakers use these phrases when seeing someone for the first time in the morning. Specifically, buenos días is used from sunrise until midday or lunchtime, whereas buenas tardes is used from midday until sunset.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase buenos días literally translates to good days in the plural.
Which one should you use?
While buenos días is the standard greeting, buen día uses the singular form of both the adjective and the noun. Buenas is a shortened, colloquial version used as a general greeting.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
Buenos días is the standard and most commonly used phrase for a formal context. You can increase politeness in formal situations by adding señor for a man or señora for a woman after the phrase. In contrast, buenas is an informal, colloquial greeting.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Argentina and Uruguay, people often use buen día to greet each other in the morning. In Spain, Mexico and the Dominican Republic, buenas can be used as an informal greeting in the morning.
How does it change in a sentence?
The form buenas matinas is a feminine plural Americanism.
How do you pronounce it?
/ˌbwenos ˈdias/
Did you know?
- The word días comes from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning 'heaven' or 'sky', making it a distant relative of the word 'Zeus'.
- While día is a masculine noun, it ends in the letter a, which is usually the marker for feminine words in Spanish.
- In some Spanish-speaking cultures, it is common to greet every single person entering a room or a shop with buenos días, even total strangers.
Examples in context
- Buenos días a todos.Good morning, everybody.This sentence shows how to address a group using buenos días.Tatoeba #527255 by Shishir, translation #22122 by CK
- Hola Tom. Buenos días.Hello, Tom. Good morning.This sentence demonstrates a casual greeting with buenos días.Tatoeba #1100827 by Shishir, translation #30314 by CM
- ¡Buenos días, cielo azul!Good morning, blue skies!This sentence shows an enthusiastic use of buenos días.Tatoeba #1457801 by marcelostockle, translation #1457802 by marcelostockle
- 41 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Maria and Alejandro meet in the office kitchen.
- MaríaBuenos días, Alejandro.Good morning, Alejandro.
- AlejandroBuenos días, María. ¿Cómo estás?Good morning, Maria. How are you?
- MaríaMuy bien, gracias.Very well, thank you.
- AlejandroQué bueno. Vamos a trabajar.That's good. Let's go to work.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “good morning” translations and entries buenos días, buen día, buenas, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries buen, buenas, día, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
