buenos días
/ˌbwenos ˈdias/
In Spanish, the phrase for top of the morning is buenos días.
buenos días is a cheerful greeting used to say hello to someone in the morning.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase buenos días literally translates to "good days".
Which one should you use?
While buenos días is used for the morning, you must switch to buenas tardes once the afternoon begins. Additionally, unlike the English "good night" which is primarily a farewell, the Spanish evening greeting buenas noches is used both as a greeting and a farewell during the evening.
How does it change in a sentence?
The singular form buen día can be used as a greeting, though buenos días is the much more common standard.
How do you pronounce it?
/ˌbwenos ˈdias/
Did you know?
- The word día is masculine in gender, but it ends in -a, which is the standard marker for feminine nouns in Spanish.
- In very rural or traditional settings, some speakers use buenos días as a way to acknowledge every person they pass on a street, even complete strangers.
- In many parts of Spain, you might hear people simply say días as a shortened, very informal greeting to friends or acquaintances in the morning.
Examples in context
- Buenos días, que tenga un buen díaGood morning, have a good day
- ¡Buenos días a todos!Top of the morning to everyone!
Example conversation
Sofía meets Alejandro at a local coffee shop in the morning.
- Sofía¡Buenos días, Alejandro!Top of the morning, Alejandro!
- Alejandro¡Buenos días, Sofía! ¿Cómo te va?Top of the morning, Sofía! How is it going?
- SofíaMuy bien, gracias.Very well, thank you.
- AlejandroMe alegro mucho.I am very happy to hear that.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry buenos días, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
