How do you say Good afternoon in Spanish?
If someone says buenas tardes to you, it means “good afternoon”, and it works as both hello and goodbye.
The most common way to say “good afternoon” in Spanish is Buenas tardes. Here are the main options, when to use each, and how to pronounce them.
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Buenas tardes
BWEH-nahs TAHR-des
Hello or goodbye from about midday until it gets dark.
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¡Buenas!
BWEH-nahs
Clipped and casual; works at any time of day.
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Muy buenas tardes
mooy BWEH-nahs TAHR-des
Extra polite — greeting an audience or customers.
Use it in a sentence
- Good afternoon, how can I help you?Buenas tardes, ¿en qué puedo ayudarle?
- Good afternoon, everyone.Buenas tardes a todos.
- Have a good afternoon!¡Que tengas una buena tarde!
- Good afternoon, I have a reservation.Buenas tardes, tengo una reserva.
Why buenas tardes, not buenos tardes?
Tarde (afternoon) is a feminine word, so the adjective has to be feminine too: buenas. Día is masculine, which is why the morning greeting is buenos días. Buenos tardes is a very common slip, and people will still understand you.
How to reply to buenas tardes
Say buenas tardes back. You can follow it with ¿cómo está? to a stranger, or ¿cómo estás? to a friend. In a shop or a bar, a quick ¡buenas! is enough.
Good to know
The greeting is always plural: buenas tardes, not buena tarde.
In Spain, where lunch is late, buenos días lasts until around 2 p.m., and buenas tardes runs well into the evening.
After dark, switch to buenas noches, which is both “good evening” and “good night”.