When is it appropriate to say “buenos días”?

Question

It looks like "buenos días" is most commonly translated as "good morning," although apparently it can mean "good day" as well (like a literal translation would suggest).

Is it appropriate to greet someone with "buenos días", even if it's not morning? (eg: in English if say "good morning" to someone and it's 13:00 it might be construed as sarcastic).

Answer 1

Yeah it's the same in Spanish. You have to use "Buenos días" if you're in the morning,"Buenas Tardes" for the afternoon/evening and "Buenas noches" at night.

It's difficult to say when you have to stop saying "Buenos días" and start saying "Buenas Tardes". Literally, the point would be at noon, but at least in Spain people say "Buenos días" before having lunch and "Buenas Tardes after that point" (Spanish people have lunch around 2 pm or so). The change between "Buenos días" and "Buenas noches" would be in the sunset but the change could also be done at dinner time.

But if you say "Buenos días" at 6pm it would be definitely strange.

Answer 2

• Buenos días -> until 12:00pm
• Buenas tardes -> from 12:01pm to last sun light
• Buenas noches -> after sunlight is gone

• Buen día differ if used like -> Que tenga un buen día = Have a nice day || Otherwise it can be interpreted as Good morning

• Variables such as Buenas are used in some countries | Buenas = Howdy (no time frame).

For those getting doubts or questions about this you should remember that some regions/countries may use different rules for which this answer may not apply.

References and further reading:

• http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Consultas/Consultas_ling%C3%BC%C3%ADsticas
• http://www.albaiges.com/cronologia/cuandoempiezatarde.htm
• http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=975209
• http://www.fundeu.es/consultas-B-buenos-dias-buenas-tardes-2146.html

• http://es.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070622014500AAaMy6Y

  As a side note, also something that should be taken into account when answering questions is that just because something is applicable in one country/region doesn't mean that is the rule and vise versa, the rule not always applies for all countries.