When you want to learn Spanish, one of the first communicative resources you need is knowing how to introduce yourself, as well as greeting and saying goodbye.
Do you want to learn Spanish? ¡Genial! Knowing how to greet and say goodbye to people, as well as, of course, introduce yourself is, no doubt, the first step. Presentarse means «to introduce oneself».
Saludar (to greet)
You’d obviously start with greeting :
«Hola» (Hello, hi)
«Buenos días» (Good morning)
«Buenas tardes» (Good afternoon / good evening until about 8-9 pm)
«Buenas noches» (Good evening, when it’s quite late, from 8-9 pm onwards)
«¿Qué tal estás?» (How are you?)
¿Cómo te llamas?
The first thing we need (and want) to know when we’re learning a new language is how to say our names:
In Spanish, we have a specific verb to say our name, «llamarse» (to be called):
-¿Cómo te llamas? /¿Cómo se llama? (formal) (What’s your name?)
–Me llamo Sarah (My name’s Sarah)
Conjugation of the verb «llamarse» – REGULAR
(I) Yo me llamo
(You, informal) Tú te llamas
(He/she/you, formal, sing.) Él/ella/usted se llama
(We) Nosotros/as nos llamamos
(You, informal, pl.) Vosotros/as os llamáis
(They / You formal, pl.) Ellos/as/ustedes se llaman
After being introduced
After being introduced to someone new, to say «nice to meet you», in Spanish we say «encantado» (for a male) or «encantada» (for a female). A longer version would be «encantado/a de conocerte/le). Literally, that means «charmed to meet you».
If we wish to be more formal and say something like «a pleasure to meet you», we can say «un placer conocerte» (using «tú») or «un placer conocerle« (using «usted» for someone older or of authority). The response to that is «igualmente», which means «likewise». Once again, if your counterpart has chosen a more formal approach with a «un place conocerte», you could correspond with a «el placer es mío» (the pleasure is mine).
¿Cuántos años tienes?
In Spanish, we don’t say how «old we are» but how many «years we have»:
The verb we use is «tener» (to have):
And we can ask, alternatively:
-¿Cuántos años tienes? / ¿Cuántos años tiene? (formal) (How old are you?)
-¿Qué edad tienes? / ¿Qué edad tiene? (formal) (What’s your age?)
–Tengo treinta y ocho (38) años (I’m 38 years old)
CONJUGATION OF THE VERB «tener» – IRREGULAR
(I) Yo tengo
(You, informal) Tú tienes
(He/she/you, formal, sing.) Él/ella/usted tiene
(We) Nosotros/as tenemos
(You, informal, pl.) Vosotros/as tenéis
(They / You formal, pl.) Ellos/as/ustedes tienen
¿De dónde eres?
In Spanish, as in English, we ask «¿de dónde eres?» (where are you from?).
There are two different verbs in Spanish to translate the verb to be, «ser» and «estar». To talk about nationality or origins, we use «ser»:
-¿De dónde eres? / ¿De dónde es? (formal) (Where are you from?)
–Soy británico/a (m/f) (I’m British) / Soy del Reino Unido (I’m from the UK)
Conjugation of the verb «ser» (to be) – IRREGULAR
(I) Yo soy
(You, informal) Tú eres
(He/she/you, formal, sing.) Él/ella/usted es
(We) Nosotros/as somos
(You, informal, pl.) Vosotros/as sois
(They / You formal, pl.) Ellos/as/ustedes son
¿Dónde vives?
As with the previous case, there’s no difference between Spanish and English in terms of asking where someone lives.
We ask «¿dónde vives?» / «¿dónde vive?» (formal) («Where do you live?»)
-¿Dónde vives? / ¿Dónde vive?
–Vivo en Berlín.
Conjugation of the verb «vivir» – regular
(I) Yo vivo
(You, informal) Tú vives
(He/she/you, formal, sing.) Él/ella/usted vive
(We) Nosotros/as vivimos
(You, informal, pl.) Vosotros/as vivís
(They / You formal, pl.) Ellos/as/ustedes viven
¿A qué te dedicas?
To find out someone’s job, occupation or profession, in Spanish we can ask, most frequently:
-«¿En qué trabajas?» («what’s your job?» – literally, «in what do you work?», verb «trabajar», to work)
-«¿A qué te dedicas?» (what do you do (for a living)?) – verb «dedicarse»
We can answer:
«Soy escritor/a» (m/f) (I’m a writer). Verb «ser» (I’m a writer).
«Trabajo de / como escritor/a» . Verb «trabajar» (I work as a writer)
Other possible questions could be «¿cuál es tu profesión?» («what is your profession?») or «¿cuál es tu ocupación?» («what is your occupation?»)
Conjugación del verbo «trabajar» – regular
(I) Yo trabajo
(You, informal) Tú trabajas
(He/she/you, formal, sing.) Él/ella/usted trabaja
(We) Nosotros/as trabajamos
(You, informal, pl.) Vosotros/as trabajáis
(They / You formal, pl.) Ellos/as/ustedes trabajan
Despedirse (saying goodbye)
-«Adiós» (Goodbye)
-«Chao» (from Italian «ciao», it would be like a more informal bye)
-«Hasta luego» (See you later)
-«Hasta pronto» (See you soon)
-«Nos vemos» (See you)
-«Hasta la vista» (See you. Many people seem to know this one, however, it’s not used that much…)
The Spanish Notebook 