Hi!
The h is silent. Hola is a friendly greeting in most everyday situations.
FREE BEGINNER LESSON 1 · SPANISH
Spanish: First words
Learn to use first words in a practical conversation and understand a natural reply.
Neutral · everyday greetings. Learn the meaning, listen to the pronunciation, then practise in the interactive lesson.
Try your first lessonOpening vocabulary referenceUseful Spanish phrases and their meanings
Good morning!
Buenos días literally uses the plural, but the whole expression means good morning.
Thank you.
Gracias is useful with anyone. In most of Spain, c before i has the sound in English thin.
Goodbye!
Adiós is a general farewell. With someone you will see soon, hasta luego is also common.
How the sentence works
Spanish spelling is fairly regular, but h is silent: hola begins with a vowel sound. Buenos días is a morning greeting. Gracias works with strangers and friends; adiós is a general farewell.
A short conversation in Spanish
Hi!
Hi! Good morning!
Goodbye!
Words to recognise
hello
good
day
thank you
Listen to the whole phrase before focusing on each word. You can replay as often as you like, and the interactive lesson uses pictures and a short exchange to put the meaning in context.
Open the interactive lessonThe opening six teaching lessons are free, including the mini-tests after lessons three and six. A test accepts any answer and shows the score and corrections at the end. No typing or speaking aloud is required.
Keep learning Spanish
Free five-minute audio lesson and MP3 · Language learning games
The pronunciation uses prepared synthetic voices. Credits and licences explain the free voice models. Independent native-speaker certification is not claimed.