Buenos días, buenas tardes, buenas noches - Some greetings in Spanish

Hola amigos,

A common cultural difference between the Spanish speaking world and the rest of the world is our concept of time. Everybody knows that Spanish speakers in Latin America and Spain have their own time space (that is why sometimes we can be a tiny bit late for our meetings)

Here you have your first tip about how and when to say your greetings in Spanish:


Buenos días:

Between 5.00 am and 12.00 pm it is always safe to use it; however in some countries, like Spain they keep on saying Buenos días until about 3.00 pm because Spanish have lunch later.

Buenas tardes:

You can usually say it in any Spanish speaking country until around 8.00 or 9.00 pm.

Buenas noches:

Our evenings start later because we tend to be up and about until later. Also Buenas Noches can be used for good evening or good night.


Let me know if you have any questions or stories.

Saludos y hasta pronto
Fernanda