Olivia Gaines Author

Many of you have probably seen the posts I’ve written for Uncover Colombia dealing with Colombian slang. Today, I want to talk about common ways to greet people in Colombia, specifically, common ways to say “hello.”

1. “¡Hola!”

This is probably the most basic form of greeting in Colombia, and most likely the most common greeting taught in any basic level Spanish class. You’ll definitely hear this greeting being used in Colombia, but I don’t know if I’d say it’s the most common greeting among Colombians.

2. “Buenas”

“Buenas,” on the other hand, is perhaps the most common way of greeting someone in Colombia, and I highly doubt it’s on the list of greetings taught in your average 101 Spanish course. I am not sure how “buenas” started as a greeting, but I would take a gander that it’s a shortened version of the standard greetings mentioned in #3 below.

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