buenos días / buenas tardes / buenas noches
good morning / afternoon / evening
Common trap for English speakers Always plural — never singular 'buen día'. Note días is masculine despite the -a ending, hence buenos not buenas.
In the story
Lucía
Hear Rosa? She said buenos días — good morning. Three sisters live together in Spanish: buenos días, buenas tardes, buenas noches. Plural words, literally “good days,” “good afternoons,” “good nights.” Try the sounds with me: bweh-nos…
Lucía
Say it with me: buenos días. Again, a little slower: bweh-nos… DEE-ahs. Now natural: buenos días.
Lucía
Now the other sisters. Repeat: buenas tardes. Slower: bweh-nas TAR-des. Natural: buenas tardes. And for night: buenas noches. Slower: bweh-nas NO-ches. Natural: buenas noches. Common mistake? Don’t say buen días — keep the s: buenos días.
Learn it in the story
This phrase appears in the lesson:
Level pre-A1 · Lesson 3