"Hello" in Colombian Spanish - Greetings That'll Make You Sound Colombian

Are you looking for ways to say “hello” in Colombian Spanish? Are the usual textbook greetings boring you and you’re looking for something different? Then you’re in luck.

Colombians are very creative with language. They love to come up with new and different ways to express themselves. Colombian Spanish is full of a variety of fun and interesting expressions, and their greetings are no exception.

In this article, we’ve compiled a list of 23 super common Colombian greetings, both textbook and out of the ordinary. Items with a Colombian flag 🇨🇴 next to them will make you sound just a bit more like a Colombian.

*Note that while the items on the list are not necessarily exclusive to Colombia (though some indeed might be), they are very common there.

In addition, this is not meant to be an exhaustive list. That same linguistic creativity I mentioned above means there are probably more examples not on this list that you can find in different regions of the country.

Nevertheless, if you add the expressions in this list to your repertoire, you’ll be saying “hi” like a Colombian in no time. ¿Estás listo? (Are you ready?) ¡Vamos!

Saying “Hello” in Colombian Spanish

The first few items on the list are more literal greetings, in the strictest sense of the word.

It's very useful to learn different ways to say hello in Colombian Spanish if you plan to travel in Colombia.

✔️ Hola – “Hello”

Of course you know this one. It’s widely used in Colombia, so I’m including it here, even if it is boring. But the next one is not in most textbooks:

✔️🇨🇴 Holi – “Hi“

This cutesy form of “hola” is more informal. You’ll probably only hear it or read it in very informal settings. People sometimes drag it out in speech, like “¡holiiiiiiiiiii!” (pronunciation)

✔️ Buenos días – “Good morning”

Another textbook phrase. Although it literally means “good days,” this greeting is used only in the morning, usually until 12 noon. At that time, you can switch to the next one. (Note the use of the masculine adjective buenos here, while the next three phrases use the feminine buenas.)

✔️ Buenas tardes – “Good afternoon”

At noon, you can begin to use this greeting. If you lose track of the time and say buenos días, don’t worry. You won’t be the only one it happens to.

✔️ Buenas noches – “Good evening/Good night”

There’s no fixed agreed-upon time when you have to stop saying buenas tardes and begin saying buenas noches. When it generally feels like evening to you, you can say this one. You can also use it as a farewell, the way you might say “good night” when leaving.

✔️🇨🇴 Buenas – A greeting for any time of day

This one is probably not in your textbook, either. But it’s extremely common to greet people with a quick buenas. It’s also universal, used formally and informally by any age group. It’s especially useful for entering a shop, a restaurant, and/or any situation where you’re addressing a group.

When “Hello” Is Not “Hello”

Sometimes a hello is not a literal “hello” in Colombian Spanish. Just as in English, you might greet somebody with a phrase that means “how are you?” “what’s up?” or something else altogether.

Sometimes a hello isn't a hello. Sometime's it's a "what's up?"

✔️ ¿Cómo estás? – “How are you?”

This, like hola, is as textbook as they come. But it’s still incredibly common (which, come to think of it, is probably why it’s in your textbook).

You can change the verb depending on your audience. Estás is informal. You could say está in a formal setting or están when addressing more than one person. Sometimes you might even hear “¿Cómo estamos?” (“how are we doing?”)

✔️ ¿Qué tal? – “How are you?”

When used as a greeting, this question is an abbreviated form of the question “¿Qué tal estás?” and is just another way to ask how someone is.

✔️ ¿Cómo vas? – “How are you doing?”

This one might be familiar to someone who speaks some amount of French. Just like the French “comment vas-tu ?” it literally translates to “how do you go?” But think of it as “how are you doing?” “how’s it going for you?” or something similar.

Just like with “¿cómo estás?” you can change the form of the verb depending on your audience.

For instance, when Paula and I met Alejandro Riaño—a Colombian actor/comedian best known for his work as the satirical character Juanpis Gonzalez (featured in a Netflix series by the same name) and as the voice of Bruno in the Spanish dubbing of Disney’s Encanto—he greeted us with an emphatic “¿cómo van?“

Paula and I met the Colombian actor Alejandro Riaño once, and he greeted us with a "¿cómo van?" — Paula and me with Riaño in Bogotá

✔️🇨🇴 ¿Cómo (me) le va? – “How are you doing?”

¿Cómo le va? is “how is it going?” but more formal (though in many parts of Colombia, it’s not uncommon to use the formal usted even among friends and loved ones). People use it a lot in Medellín and Bogotá, among other places. ¿Cómo me le va?* is used frequently in and around Bogotá, especially by older people.

*If you’re confused about the me in that construction, it’s known as the dativo ético o de interés (article in Spanish), and it just shows that the speaker has a special interest in the action indicated by the verb. In this case, the speaker indicates their heightened interest in knowing how things are going for you.

There are many ways to say hello in Colombian Spanish.

Want to hear these and other Colombian Spanish phrases in use? Watching Colombian shows is one way to do that. Check out my list of the 6 best Colombian shows on Netflix US.

✔️ ¿Cómo te va? – “How’s it going?”

This is the informal form of the above phrase, both of which really ask “how’s it going for you?” Unlike the more formal one above, this phrase’s use is widespread.

✔️ ¿Cómo te ha ido? – “How’ve you been?”

This literally means “how has it been going for you?” But you can think of it as “how’ve you been?”

✔️ ¿Cómo has estado? – “How’ve you been?”

This is a more literal translation of “how have you been?”

✔️ ¿Cómo va todo? – “How’s everything (going)?”

This is pretty straightforward, and it’s very common.

✔️🇨🇴 ¿Qué hubo? / ¿Quiubo? – “What’s up?”

This phrase, when used as a greeting, is arguably the most iconic hello in Colombian Spanish. Hubo is the simple past form of “haber” (there is/there are). So the phrase literally means “what was there?” In Colombia, however, it’s often used as a very informal greeting, like “what’s up?”

It’s usually pronounced quickly, so that the two words are smooshed together, pronounced and written as “¿quiubo?” If you want to sound bien paisa, as if you were from Medellín, throw in a pues or a parce/parcero (dude/homie) at the end. Or use both: “¿Quiubo pues parcero?”

✔️🇨🇴 ¿Qué más? – “What’s up?”

This is also a super Colombian greeting, which literally means “what more?/what else?” It’s used widely across the country, but like the above greeting, you can adapt it for paisas like this: “¿Qué más pues?” “¿Qué más parce?” etc.

You can often hear this greeting together with the previous one: “¿Quiubo? ¿Qué más?” with no real pause between the two.

👆🏼👆🏼👆🏼Hear it in the song “Qué Más Pues?” by the famous paisa, J Balvin

✔️ ¿Qué hay de nuevo? – “What’s new?”

This one’s pretty straightforward, and it’s common throughout the Spanish-speaking world.

✔️ ¿Qué (me) cuentas? – “What’s new?”

This, loosely translated, is kind of like asking “what [news] can you tell me?”

✔️ ¿Qué dice? – “What do you say?”

Its literal meaning aside, this can just be a generic greeting.

✔️ ¿Qué has hecho? – “What have you been up to?”

This greeting is more likely used with someone you haven’t seen or talked to in a little while.

✔️🇨🇴 ¿Bien o no? – “You good?”

This very paisa greeting (literally “well or not?”) is common in Medellín, among other places.

✔️🇨🇴 ¿Bien o qué? – “You good?”

Same as above, but the literal meaning is “well or what?”

✔️🇨🇴 ¿Todo bien? – “Is everything good?”

When I lived for a year in the Caribbean coast of Colombia, I heard this greeting more than anywhere else. That’s not to say it’s strictly costeño (“coastal,” especially when referring to the people of the Caribbean coast of Colombia). But in my experience, it’s more frequent in that region.

The Wrap-Up: “Hello” in Colombian Spanish

Well, there you have it, folks. You’ve now got a big list of different ways to say hello in Colombian Spanish. You can now move out of the comfort zone of the common hola and ¿cómo estás? and into the previously uncharted waters of ¿quiubo? and ¿qué más?

Whether you’re going to Colombia, or just speaking to Colombian people, you can now confidently use these greetings. So go out and put them into practice today!