Greetings, Introductions and Personal Information

Being able to greet people, introduce yourself and share basic personal information is the absolute foundation of GCSE Spanish. These topics appear across every exam board — AQA, Edexcel and OCR — and are essential for the speaking, writing, reading and listening papers. This lesson covers formal and informal greetings, self-introductions, numbers, dates, nationalities and key cultural notes about Spanish-speaking customs.

1. Greetings (Los saludos)

Spanish greetings change depending on the time of day, the relationship between speakers, and the level of formality required. Understanding the difference between formal and informal register is critical for the speaking exam.

Formal and Informal Greetings

Spanish	English	Register	When to use
Hola	Hello / Hi	Informal & neutral	The universal greeting in almost any situation
Buenos días	Good morning	Formal & informal	From dawn until around midday
Buenas tardes	Good afternoon / Good evening	Formal & informal	From midday until around 8–9pm
Buenas noches	Good night / Good evening	Formal & informal	Late evening or when saying goodbye at night
¿Qué tal?	How are you? / How's it going?	Informal	With friends, classmates, family
¿Cómo estás?	How are you?	Informal	With people you know well
¿Cómo está usted?	How are you?	Formal	With adults, strangers, teachers
Muy bien, gracias	Very well, thank you	Both	Standard polite response
Bien, gracias. ¿Y tú?	Fine, thanks. And you?	Informal	Returning the question to a friend
Regular / Así así	OK / So-so	Informal	When things are just average
Mal	Bad	Informal	When things are not going well
Adiós	Goodbye	Both	Standard farewell
Hasta luego	See you later	Informal	Very common casual farewell
Hasta mañana	See you tomorrow	Informal	At the end of a school day
Hasta pronto	See you soon	Informal	When you expect to meet again soon
Nos vemos	See you	Very informal	Among young people
Encantado/a	Pleased to meet you	Formal	When meeting someone for the first time (masculine/feminine)
Mucho gusto	Nice to meet you	Formal	Slightly more formal first-meeting greeting

Tú vs Usted — The Register Rule

One of the most important things in Spanish is knowing when to use tú (informal "you", singular) and usted (formal "you", singular). In Latin America, vos is also used in some countries, but for GCSE you need tú and usted.

Use tú when speaking to…	Use usted when speaking to…
A friend	An adult you do not know
A family member	A teacher or employer
A classmate	A shopkeeper or waiter (in Spain)
A child	Any stranger in a formal context
A pet	An elderly person

Exam tip: In the speaking exam, the examiner plays a role (e.g. a Spanish adult). Always use usted with them unless the task card explicitly tells you to speak to a friend. Using the wrong register can cost you marks on communication and range of language.

Exam tip: Remember that usted uses third-person verb forms (like él/ella), and ustedes uses third-person plural forms (like ellos/ellas). This catches many students out.

2. Self-Introduction Patterns (Presentarse)

Being able to introduce yourself fluently is essential for the speaking exam role-play and conversation sections.

Key Phrases for Self-Introduction

Spanish	English
Me llamo Ana.	My name is Ana.
Mi nombre es Carlos.	My name is Carlos.
Mi apellido es García.	My surname is García.
Tengo quince años.	I am fifteen years old.
Mi cumpleaños es el diez de marzo.	My birthday is on the 10th of March.
Nací el veinticinco de diciembre.	I was born on the 25th of December.
Vivo en Londres, en el sureste de Inglaterra.	I live in London, in the south-east of England.
Vivo en una ciudad grande.	I live in a big city.
Vivo en un pueblo pequeño en el campo.	I live in a small village in the countryside.
Soy inglés / inglesa.	I am English. (male / female)
Soy británico/a.	I am British.
Soy galés / galesa.	I am Welsh.
Soy escocés / escocesa.	I am Scottish.
Soy irlandés / irlandesa.	I am Irish.

Exam tip: In Spanish you say "Tengo quince años" (I have fifteen years), NOT "Soy quince años." Using tener for age is one of the most commonly tested points.

Nationalities — Adjective Agreement

Nationalities are adjectives in Spanish and must agree with the gender of the speaker:

Masculine	Feminine	English
español	española	Spanish
inglés	inglesa	English
francés	francesa	French
galés	galesa	Welsh
escocés	escocesa	Scottish
irlandés	irlandesa	Irish
alemán	alemana	German
americano	americana	American
italiano	italiana	Italian
polaco	polaca	Polish
chino	china	Chinese
marroquí	marroquí	Moroccan

Note that nationalities ending in a consonant add -a for the feminine and often lose their accent (inglés → inglesa). Those ending in -o change to -a. Those ending in -í or -e stay the same for both genders.

3. Numbers and Dates (Los números y las fechas)

Cardinal Numbers 0–31

Number	Spanish	Number	Spanish
0	cero	16	dieciséis
1	uno	17	diecisiete
2	dos	18	dieciocho
3	tres	19	diecinueve
4	cuatro	20	veinte
5	cinco	21	veintiuno
6	seis	22	veintidós
7	siete	23	veintitrés
8	ocho	24	veinticuatro
9	nueve	25	veinticinco
10	diez	26	veintiséis
11	once	27	veintisiete
12	doce	28	veintiocho
13	trece	29	veintinueve
14	catorce	30	treinta
15	quince	31	treinta y uno

Months of the Year

Spanish	English
enero	January
febrero	February
marzo	March
abril	April
mayo	May
junio	June
julio	July
agosto	August
septiembre	September
octubre	October
noviembre	November
diciembre	December

Exam tip: In Spanish, months are written in lowercase (unlike English). Dates use cardinal numbers except for the first of the month: el primero de enero (the 1st of January), then el dos de febrero, el tres de marzo, etc.

How to Express a Date

Mi cumpleaños es el catorce de febrero. — My birthday is the 14th of February.
Hoy es el veinte de septiembre. — Today is the 20th of September.
Nací el cinco de julio de dos mil ocho. — I was born on the 5th of July 2008.

4. Asking and Answering Questions (Hacer preguntas)

Key Question Words

Spanish	English
¿Cómo?	How?
¿Qué?	What?
¿Cuándo?	When?
¿Dónde?	Where?
¿Por qué?	Why?
¿Cuántos/as?	How many?
¿Cuál / Cuáles?	Which?
¿Quién / Quiénes?	Who?
¿Adónde?	Where to?

Exam tip: All question words in Spanish carry an accent mark. This is essential in writing — missing the accent is a spelling error. Also remember that Spanish uses an inverted question mark ¿ at the start of the question.

Practice Question-and-Answer Patterns

Question	Answer
¿Cómo te llamas?	Me llamo Sarah.
¿Cuántos años tienes?	Tengo dieciséis años.
¿Cuándo es tu cumpleaños?	Mi cumpleaños es el tres de abril.
¿Dónde vives?	Vivo en Manchester.
¿De dónde eres?	Soy de Gales.
¿Tienes hermanos?	Sí, tengo un hermano y una hermana.

5. Cultural Notes

Greetings in the Spanish-Speaking World

In Spain and Latin America, greetings are more physical than in the UK. When meeting someone for the first time in a social context, it is customary to give dos besos (two kisses on the cheek) — one on each cheek, starting with the right. In business settings, a handshake is used.

In Latin America, customs vary by country. In Argentina, even men may greet each other with a kiss on the cheek. In Mexico, one kiss is more common between women or between a man and a woman. Understanding these cultural differences can earn marks in the cultural awareness sections of exams.

The Siesta

The traditional siesta (afternoon rest) means that in Spain many shops and businesses close between roughly 2pm and 5pm. This affects daily schedules: lunch (la comida) is typically eaten between 2pm and 3pm, and dinner (la cena) between 9pm and 10:30pm — much later than in the UK.

Key Vocabulary Summary

Greetings: hola, buenos días, buenas tardes, buenas noches, adiós, hasta luego
Question words: ¿cómo?, ¿qué?, ¿cuándo?, ¿dónde?, ¿por qué?, ¿cuántos?
Self-introduction: me llamo, tengo … años, vivo en, soy de, mi cumpleaños es
Nationalities: español/a, inglés/inglesa, francés/francesa, galés/galesa
Numbers 0–31, months of the year, dates
Cultural notes: dos besos, tú vs usted, the siesta