Greetings & courtesy
Natural hellos, goodbyes, introductions, and polite survival phrases.
Sound natural from the first conversation
Hola works at any time. Bon dia is used through the morning and often until lunch; bona tarda covers the afternoon and early evening; bona nit is both an evening greeting and “good night”. With strangers, perdoni and third-person forms are polite; everyday Barcelona interaction quickly moves to tu.
Core exchanges
| Catalan | English | Use |
|---|---|---|
| Hola! Com va? | Hello! How’s it going? | Friendly and neutral. |
| Com estàs? | How are you? | Informal, to one person. |
| Molt bé, gràcies. I tu? | Very well, thanks. And you? | Natural short reply. |
| Em dic Alex. I tu, com et dius? | My name is Alex. And you? | Introduction. |
| Encantat / Encantada. | Pleased to meet you. | Match the speaker’s gender. |
| Si us plau. | Please. | Works in all registers. |
| Gràcies / Moltes gràcies. | Thanks / Thank you very much. | Universal. |
| De res. | You’re welcome. | Standard reply. |
| Perdó / Disculpa / Perdoni. | Sorry / Excuse me. | Perdoni is formal singular. |
| Fins ara / Fins després / Fins demà. | See you soon / later / tomorrow. | Choose the real time frame. |
| Que vagi bé! | Take care! / Have a good one! | Very common farewell. |
Examples you can use
Bon dia. Em podria ajudar, si us plau?
Good morning. Could you help me, please?
Hola, soc la Maya. Treballo aquí al costat.
Hi, I’m Maya. I work right next door.
Perdoni, sap on és el lavabo?
Excuse me, do you know where the toilet is?
Moltes gràcies per tot. Que vagi molt bé!
Thank you very much for everything. Take care!
Fins demà! Ens veiem a les nou.
See you tomorrow! We’ll see each other at nine.
Ho sento, encara no parlo gaire català.
I’m sorry, I don’t speak much Catalan yet.
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