While walking down the street on a beautiful afternoon in Spain or Colombia, you’ll almost certainly be greeted with buenas tardes. Saying “good afternoon” in Spanish-speaking countries is nearly as common as saying “hello” in Spanish. But just like many things in a language, there isn’t just one way to go about it. With this guide, you can learn the various ways to say “good afternoon” to make learning Spanish more nuanced and enriching.
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Common ways to say ‘good afternoon’ in Spanish
Familiarize yourself with the various ways you can greet someone during the afternoon hours in Spanish.
Buenas tardes
Buenas tardes is the standard way to say “good afternoon” across all Spanish-speaking countries. Here are some common ways you’ll hear it used:
- ¡Buenas tardes! ¿Cómo estás? = Good afternoon! How are you?
- Buenas tardes, ¿en qué puedo ayudarle? = Good afternoon, how can I help you?
Buenas tardes is used in both formal and informal contexts and doesn’t change from male to female. However, you can always add identifiers like amigo (friend) or señorita (miss) to make your greeting more personal or polite. For example:
- Buenas tardes, amiga. ¿cómo te va la tarde? = Good afternoon, friend. How’s your afternoon?
- Buenas tardes, seňor. ¿Tiene mesa para dos? = Good afternoon, sir. Do you have a table for two?
Buenas
Learning Spanish slang and colloquialisms is an essential component of speaking the language. Some of the most common colloquialisms are simply shortened words, like profe for profesor (teacher), refri for refrigerador (fridge), and buenas for buenas tardes (good afternoon).
The true beauty of using buenas is that it’s not just used to say “good afternoon” in Spanish: It can be used at any time of the day! It’s comparable to saying just “Morning!,” “Afternoon!,” or “Evening!” in English, and it’s best used in informal, relaxed settings.
Here are some examples of how buenas is used to greet someone in the afternoon:
- ¡Buenas! ¿Volviendo al trabajo? = Afternoon! Heading back to work?
- ¡Buenas! ¿Qué tal? = Afternoon! How’s it going?
Buena tarde
While not often used as a standalone greeting like buenas tardes, buena tarde is used to express “have a good afternoon” in Spanish. For example:
- Que pases buena tarde. = Have a good afternoon.
- Espero que tengas buena tarde. = I hope you have a good afternoon.
Feliz tarde
For a friendly and cheerful tone, you can also use feliz tarde to wish someone a nice afternoon in informal contexts. For example:
- ¡Feliz tarde, niños! = Have a good afternoon, kids!
- Que tengas una feliz tarde. = Have a good afternoon.
What time should you start saying ‘good afternoon’?
Even if you haven’t quite mastered telling time in Spanish yet, it’s a good time to start learning when to make the switch from buenos días (good morning) to buenas tardes (good afternoon).
In Spanish-speaking countries, buenos días is typically used until after lunchtime, which may be much later than typical lunchtime in the US. For example, Spaniards might find it odd to be greeted with “buenas tardes” right after noon, since lunchtime is typically between 1 and 3 p.m.
Beyond buenas tardes: Keep the conversation going with Rosetta Stone
After greeting someone in Spanish using buenas tardes or buenas, you’ll want to be prepared for what’s going to come next in the conversation. Knowing common follow-up questions and how to respond will help conversation flow naturally, a skill that the Rosetta Stone method teaches you from the very first conversation.
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