mañana
/maˈɲana/
In Spanish, the phrase for morning time is mañana.
The word mañana refers to the period of time between sunrise and noon.
Which one should you use?
A distinction exists between the noun and the adverb: the word mañana without an article often functions as an adverb meaning 'tomorrow', whereas la mañana functions as a noun meaning 'the morning'.
How does it change in a sentence?
When referring to the specific time of day, the word is used with the feminine article la to form la mañana.
How do you pronounce it?
/maˈɲana/
When do people say it?
To greet someone in the morning, the standard way is to say Buenos días. However, it is important to note that after 12:00 p.m., you should switch to buenas tardes instead of continuing to use morning greetings. In very informal situations or among friends, you may use the shortened form Buenas.
Did you know?
- In many Spanish-speaking cultures, the concept of mañana is sometimes used figuratively to mean 'some time in the future' or 'not today', rather than literally the next day.
- While la mañana refers to the morning, the greeting Buenos días uses the plural word for 'days' instead of the word for 'morning'.
- The word mañana evolved from the Vulgar Latin māneāna, which originally carried the literal meaning of 'tomorrow morning'.
Examples in context
- Buenos días, señor Rodríguez. ¿Cómo ha amanecido?Good morning, Mr. Rodríguez. How did you wake up?
- ¿Qué tal, amigos? ¿Habéis descansado bien?What's up, friends? Did you sleep well?
- por la mañanaIn the morning
- Estudio español por la mañana.I study Spanish in the morning.
- Prefiero correr por la mañana.I prefer to run in the morning.
Example conversation
Alejandro and Lucía are planning a meeting.
- Alejandro¿Puedes hablar mañana?Can you talk tomorrow morning?
- LucíaSí, Lucía puede hablar temprano.Yes, Lucía can talk early.
- AlejandroPerfecto, nos vemos en la mañana.Perfect, we will see each other in the morning.
- LucíaEstá bien, Alejandro. Hasta entonces.All right, Alejandro. See you then.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry mañana, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries mañana, CC BY-SA 4.0.
