How to Say “Welcome” in Spanish

Ways to say it

The word is used as a greeting given upon someone's arrival. While you use the adjective forms to greet someone directly, you can use the verbal phrase dar la bienvenida to describe the act of welcoming or greeting the arrival of someone. If you wish to tell someone to come in or step forward, you might say ¡Pasa adelante!

Which one should you use?

In English, the word 'welcome' is often an invariable interjection, but in Spanish, the form you choose must agree in gender and number with the person or people being greeted. Furthermore, bienvenido is the greeting itself, whereas the phrase dar la bienvenida is used to describe the actual action of welcoming.

Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?

To say welcome to a single person in a formal context, use Sea bienvenido. To welcome multiple individuals formally, use Sean bienvenidos.

Related words

Act of greeting someone's arrival (noun): acogida, bienvenida.

Affirm or greet the arrival of someone (verb): dar la bienvenida.

How does it change in a sentence?

The form of the word changes based on the gender and number of the people being welcomed: ¡bienvenido! is used for a man (masculine singular), and ¡bienvenida! is used for a woman (feminine singular). For groups, ¡bienvenidos! is used for a group of men or a mixed-gender group (masculine plural), while ¡bienvenidas! is used specifically for a group of only women (feminine plural).