· 6 min read
Spanish Phrases for Conversation: 35 to Know
By Language Lab editorial team
35 Spanish phrases for conversation: openers, good wishes, feelings, small talk and celebrations, with informal and formal forms. From the BBC's Spanish lists.
Conversation in Spanish runs on short, warm set phrases. You open with Hola and Encantado, nice to meet you, and you close with ¡Hasta pronto!, see you soon. In between you wish people well: ¡Buen viaje! for have a great trip, Buen fin de semana for have a good weekend, Buena suerte for good luck. You react: ¡Estupendo! is great and ¡Qué lástima! is what a shame. The one thing to watch is who you are talking to. Several phrases have an informal form and a formal one, such as ¡Que te diviertas! and ¡Que se divierta! for have fun. The 35 phrases below are from the BBC's Spanish Quick Fix lists, which mark the two forms.
Opening and closing
| Spanish | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Hola | Hi |
| Me llamo... | My name is... |
| Encantado, -a | Nice to meet you |
| Bienvenido | Welcome |
| ¡Hasta pronto! | See you soon! |
| Buenas noches | Good night |
| Adiós | Goodbye |
Wishing people well
| Spanish | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ¡Buen viaje! | Have a great trip! |
| Buen fin de semana | Have a good weekend |
| Buenas tardes | Have a nice evening |
| Buena suerte | Good luck |
| Con los mejores deseos | Best wishes, take care |
| Que aproveche | Enjoy your meal |
| ¡Salud! | Cheers! |
Informal and formal pairs
The BBC's list gives two versions of several wishes. Use the informal one with people you know well and the formal one in formal situations.
| Spanish | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ¡Que disfrutes las vacaciones! (informal) | Enjoy your holiday! |
| ¡Que disfrute las vacaciones! (formal) | Enjoy your holiday! |
| ¡Que te diviertas! (informal) | Have fun! |
| ¡Que se divierta! (formal) | Have fun! |
| Mejórate pronto (informal) | Get well soon |
Look at what changes: disfrutes becomes disfrute, and te diviertas becomes se divierta. The Open University's first beginner Spanish course lists making introductions using both formal and informal expressions among its outcomes, which shows how early this distinction matters.
Reactions
| Spanish | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ¡Estupendo! | Great! |
| ¡Bien hecho! | Well done! |
| ¡Felicidades! | Congratulations! |
| ¡Qué lástima! | What a shame! |
Saying how you are
| Spanish | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Me siento mal. | I feel sick. |
| Tengo dolor de cabeza. | I have a headache. |
| Hace mucho calor. | It's way too hot. |
| Hablo un poco | I speak a little |
Affection
| Spanish | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Te quiero | I love you |
| Te echo de menos | I miss you |
Special days
| Spanish | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ¡Feliz cumpleaños! | Happy birthday! |
| ¡Feliz Navidad! | Merry Christmas! |
| ¡Feliz año nuevo! | Happy New Year! |
| Feliz día de la madre | Happy Mother's Day |
| Feliz día del padre | Happy Father's Day |
| Feliz día de San Valentín | Happy Valentine's Day! |
Feliz, happy, does most of the work here. Learn it once and you can recognise a greeting for any occasion.
How to practise conversation phrases
- Practise in pairs of lines: a wish and a thank-you, a piece of news and a reaction.
- Say them aloud, with the audio as your model.
- Test yourself from the English side.
- Review over several days. A 2013 review of learning research rated practice testing and distributed practice as high utility, and rereading as low.
- Decide in advance who gets the informal form and who gets the formal one.
Language Lab's Spanish course is built around voiced real-life scenarios with an AI tutor, which gives you someone to say these to.
Frequently asked
What are common Spanish conversation phrases?
Hola, Encantado for nice to meet you, ¡Hasta pronto! for see you soon, Buena suerte for good luck, ¡Estupendo! for great and ¡Qué lástima! for what a shame.
How do I say have fun in Spanish?
¡Que te diviertas! to someone you address informally, and ¡Que se divierta! in formal address.
How do I say I miss you in Spanish?
Te echo de menos. I love you is Te quiero.
How do I say get well soon in Spanish?
Mejórate pronto. The BBC marks this as the informal form.
How do I say congratulations in Spanish?
¡Felicidades! For well done, say ¡Bien hecho!
When should I use the formal form?
In formal situations. The BBC's phrase list labels formal and informal versions, and The Open University's first beginner course teaches introductions in both.
Sources: BBC Languages, Spanish Quick Fix: basic, social, celebration and festival phrases (archived pages); The Open University, OpenLearn, Getting started with Spanish 1; Dunlosky et al., Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 2013. Checked on 13 October 2026. Photo: The Alhambra at dusk from the Albaicín, Granada, Andrea Zanoni / CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons).
