14
votes
Accepted
"Have a good day" in Spanish?
The short answer would be
Que tengas un buen día
Which express your desire for the other person to actually "have a nice day".
"Ten un buen día" is the literal translation but it doesn't express ...
- 439
10
votes
Accepted
How do you say "nice to meet you" in Spanish?
As you indicate in the question
Encantado de conocerte / conocerle
may be the best option. If it is a formal context I would favor the "usted" form.
Other forms would be
Mucho gusto en ...
- 48k
10
votes
Where does "Hola" come from? / ¿De dónde viene "Hola"?
Por dejar aquí constancia de lo que opinaba la RAE en el siglo XVIII (Diccionario de Autoridades):
HOLA. interj. Modo vulgar de hablar usado para llamar a otro que es inferior. Latín Heus, que es de ...
- 77.3k
7
votes
How to close an email
I think it would be good to complete this for other possible readers.
Very formal, usually only used in cases where the email/letter will (or can) be used legally or to customers, providers, etc:
....
- 1,078
7
votes
Accepted
Where does "Hola" come from? / ¿De dónde viene "Hola"?
"Hola" parece venir de voces expresivas para infundir aliento o apresurar el paso, al igual que la palabra "hala" o la voz francesa holá y el hallo inglés.
De acuerdo a Wikipedia:
...
- 48k
7
votes
Accepted
"Muchos gracias" o "Mucho gracias", ¿cuál es correcto?
Lo correcto es muchas gracias. En español, el adjetivo debe concordar en género y número con el sustantivo. Como gracias es femenino plural, el adjetivo (en este caso, muchas) también debe estar en ...
- 10.2k
7
votes
Accepted
What is the meaning of '¿Qué húbole?'?
This appears to be a colloquial idiom meaning "What happened?" or "What's up?". In a couple of forum questions people mention it's rather common in Mexico and Venezuela. To me (from media exposure to ...
- 39.4k
6
votes
Why "buenas noches" when it's only one night?
1. Origin of buenas noches
Buenas noches is a contraction of the older Spanish salutations:
Id a buenas noches
Dios os dé buenas noches
This can be seen in the earliest recorded uses of the phrase:
...
- 19.3k
6
votes
What is the meaning of '¿Qué húbole?'?
Significa ¿cómo estás?.
Es una manera de saludar utilizada popularmente en México, sería más como "quiubole" y su traducción literal sería "Qué hubo".
Y tienes muchas razón al argumentar que se ...
- 61
6
votes
How do you say kissing each other's cheeks in spanish?
To kiss [someone's] cheek
in Spanish is
besar [a alguien] en la mejilla
Among many other meanings, the pronoun se can be used to express reciprocity, so "to kiss each other's cheek" would be "...
6
votes
How do you say kissing each other's cheeks in spanish?
I would say something like se dieron dos besos - the location of the kisses is understood in most of the contexts -.
I am going to give you something to read:
Es llegar a cualquier sitio y, ...
- 1,215
6
votes
Accepted
What's the difference between "Hola, ¿cómo te llamas usted?" and "Hola, ¿cuál es to nombre?" and when would I use one or the other?
Puedes usar cualquiera de las dos frases. Significan lo mismo. La respuesta puede ser de cualquier forma también, no deben corresponder necesariamente:
¿Cómo te llamas? Mi nombre es Pablo.
¿Cuál es ...
- 615
5
votes
Accepted
Spanish phrase meaning 'thrive without gods'
Well, to begin it should be made clear that, while adiós indeed comes from the phrase a Dios os encomiendo (I entrust you to God), like the phrase ojalá (from لو شاء الله meaning if God wills (it)), ...
- 29.9k
5
votes
"Have a good day" in Spanish?
Que tenga buen día.
or the more familiar, but less commonly heard:
Que tengas buen día.
Are both very common in Mexico and Guatemala (the countries with which I am most familiar). Even more ...
- 12.9k
5
votes
How would a US-teenage boy address his mom?
This question is really interesting to me. You are not saying anything about the father (if there is one) and that factor could influence too how the boy speaks.
I don't know Mexican culture well ...
- 48k
5
votes
How would a US-teenage boy address his mom?
In general, "mamá" is perfectly acceptable and the most common (I would say). However, "amá" or "ma" are very common among Mexicans as well, so nothing wrong with them either.
If I had to choose one ...
- 3,741
5
votes
Why is "De nada" used as a response to "Gracias"?
In Spanish, the term "de nada" means "[something] of little importance or value". The expression "cosa de nada" has been used for centuries:
—Bien puede vuestra merced, señor, concederle el don que ...
- 77.3k
5
votes
Accepted
Addressing a person in mail, person has a title
As stated on wikipedia
Formal salutations. Only written.
"Estimado" (+ name or title "Señor". "Sr." is the abbreviation). For male. Example for a man called Juan García: "Estimado Juan" ...
- 4,519
4
votes
Addressing a person in mail, person has a title
In Spanish the proper way is Dr. (male) or Dra. (female). Both are abbreviations of doctor and doctora, respectively. If you use the whole word, it can be used in lower case, but if you use the ...
- 77.3k
4
votes
What's the formal, genderless way to greet someone in a letter?
There is actually a genderless way to translate Greetings that I can think of. You can use:
Saludos, (person's name):
For example:
Saludos, María:
Saludos, José:
- 682
4
votes
Accepted
What's the formal, genderless way to greet someone in a letter?
There are many approaches for this that may depend on the context. Also, note that it is usual to use forms like "querido/a", etc. to make sure either men and women feel mentioned. So there is no need ...
- 34k
4
votes
Accepted
"Happy birthday" in Spanish?
Well, I don't know in Spain but in Latin America we say
Feliz cumpleaños = Happy birthday
Feliz cumpleaños [nombre] = Happy birthday [name]
Feliz cumpleaños [nombre de cariño] = Happy ...
- 1,021
4
votes
Accepted
¿Por qué en Colombia se dice "nos estamos viendo / leyendo / hablando" para decir "hasta pronto"?
La expresión, que yo sepa también se usa en Ecuador. (Viví en Ecuador y soy Colombiano)
Literalmente es Nos estamos hablando. Quiere decir que incluso si no nos vemos, vamos a seguir hablando. Es ...
- 6,677
4
votes
Accepted
How to close an email
The equivalent to Best Regards or Best would be Atentamente
See this quick example:
Hola Alfredo,
He recibido tu correo. Gracias por tu respuesta.
Atentamente,
Angel Alvarado
4
votes
Accepted
In '¿Cómo *le* va?', what is the role of 'le'?
They are indirect objects. You can think of them like this:
¿Cómo le/te va? How is life treating you?
¿Qué le/te pasa? What's new with you?/What's wrong with you?/What's happening to you?
Le is ...
- 10.7k
4
votes
What is the origin of the expression "qué tal"?
I found an article that tries to develop some intuitive understanding and grouping of the many idiomatic expressions using tal, at thoughtco.com:
Tal is [one] of those words that's best thought of as ...
- 10.7k
3
votes
¿Es "Hola cara de pez" un saludo en México? ¿Qué significa?
Sí, es un saludo. Tiene la intención de ser un poco gracioso sin implicar nada importante en absoluto. No es una ofensa, es simplemente una forma de saludar de manera muy informal, amistosa y graciosa....
- 171
3
votes
Can "Hombre" be translated to "hey"?
In this sentence "man" is just an expression, it does not refer to the actual gender.
Therefore "Hey, how are you?" is an acceptable translation.
You could also use "Buddy, how are you?".
3
votes
How do you introduce yourself on the phone in a formal setting?
This depends a lot on the culture, so, as they say, your mileage may vary. For me, using honorifics is mostly out of the question except for señor or señora. Using señorita for unmarried women is ...
- 39.4k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible