Buenos días
- Pronunciation: BWEH-nohs DEE-ahs. The accent on í means the stress falls on DEE.
- Spelling: días takes an accent mark. Without it (dias) it is a spelling mistake, though you will see it in quick texts.
- Formality: buenos días is polite enough for a boss or a stranger and friendly enough for family. It works in every Spanish-speaking country.
- Plural: it is always plural. "Bueno día" and "buenos día" are wrong.
Add a name or a title to make it warmer or more respectful: Buenos días, Marta, Buenos días, señor, Buenos días a todos (good morning, everyone).
When does the morning end?
Spanish splits the day by meals and daylight, not by the clock:
| Greeting | Roughly when |
|---|---|
| Buenos días | From waking up until noon, or until lunch |
| Buenas tardes | From noon or lunch until it gets dark |
| Buenas noches | After dark, as a hello and a goodbye |
In Spain, where lunch is often at 2 or 3 pm, many people keep saying buenos días until lunchtime. In most of Latin America, people switch to buenas tardes at about noon. If you are unsure around midday, buenas on its own is always safe.
For the evening, see good night in Spanish.
Other ways to say good morning
| Spanish | Where and when |
|---|---|
| Buen día | Singular form, normal in Argentina and Uruguay and heard in parts of Mexico and elsewhere; rare in Spain |
| Buenas | Short, casual hello at any time of day, everywhere |
| ¡Buenos días! | The standard written form, with both exclamation marks |
| Buenos días a todos | Good morning, everyone: to a room, a class, or a group chat |
| Muy buenos días | A very good morning: a warmer, more emphatic buenos días |
| ¿Cómo amaneciste? | How did you wake up? A caring question to family or a partner, common in Colombia and Central America |
| ¿Qué tal dormiste? | How did you sleep? |
Good morning to someone you love
Morning texts to a partner usually add a term of endearment:
- Buenos días, mi amor. Good morning, my love.
- Buenos días, preciosa / precioso. Good morning, gorgeous (to a woman / a man).
- Buenos días, dormilón / dormilona. Good morning, sleepyhead (to a man / a woman).
- Que tengas un lindo día. Have a lovely day. In Spain, que tengas un buen día is more usual; lindo is typical of Latin America.
For more words like these, see beautiful in Spanish and I love you in Spanish.
Example sentences
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| Buenos días, ¿cómo está usted? | Good morning, how are you? (formal) |
| ¡Buenos días! ¿Qué tal dormiste? | Good morning! How did you sleep? |
| Buen día, ¿todo bien? | Morning, all good? |
| Buenos días a todos, empezamos la reunión. | Good morning, everyone, let’s start the meeting. |
| Buenos días, quería un café con leche, por favor. | Good morning, I’d like a coffee with milk, please. |
| Le di los buenos días al vecino. | I said good morning to the neighbor. |
| Buenos días, mi amor, que tengas un lindo día. | Good morning, my love, have a lovely day. |
How to reply
The usual reply is to say it back. If a question follows, answer briefly and return it:
- Buenos días. → Buenos días.
- Buenos días, ¿cómo estás? → Muy bien, gracias, ¿y tú?
- Buenos días, ¿cómo está? → Bien, gracias, ¿y usted? (formal)
- ¿Cómo amaneciste? → Bien, gracias a Dios or Muy bien, ¿y tú?
More answers are on how are you in Spanish.
Common mistakes
- Buenas días. Día ends in a but is masculine, so it takes buenos. Tardes and noches are feminine: buenas tardes, buenas noches.
- Saying buenos días at 4 pm. After lunch it is buenas tardes. If you are not sure, say buenas.
- Dropping the plural. In the standard greeting both words are plural: buenos días. The singular buen día is its own greeting, not a shortened form of it.
- Pronouncing it like English "bwee-nose". The ue is one quick sound, BWEH, and the s at the end is soft.
- Skipping it. Walking into a small shop, a waiting room, or an elevator in the morning without a buenos días can seem cold.