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How to Say ‘Good afternoon, ma'am!’ in Mexican Spanish

¡Buenas tardes, señora!

BWEH-nahs TAR-des seh-NYOH-rah

[BWEH-nahs TAR-des seh-NYOH-rah]

🇲🇽 In Mexico: Buenas tardes runs from about noon until dark in Mexico. Adding señora is the polite norm with a woman you don't know well, not stiff at all.

Phrase Breakdown

¡Buenas tardes,

BWEH-nahs TAR-des

Good afternoon,

Greeting used from about noon until dark. Say 'BWEH-nahs TAR-dehs' and tap the 'r' lightly.

Example

¡Buenas tardes, profesor!

Good afternoon, teacher!

Words in this phrase

Buenas

[BWEH-nahs]

good

A shortened polite greeting, usually heard as part of 'buenas tardes' or 'buenas noches.' By itself, it can casually mean 'hello.'

Example

En el mostrador digo: Buenas.

At the counter I say: Hello.

tardes

[TAR-des]

afternoon

Plural form used in the greeting 'buenas tardes,' meaning 'good afternoon.'

Example

En el aeropuerto escucho la palabra Tardes en 'buenas tardes'.

At the airport I hear the word 'afternoon' in 'good afternoon.'

señora!

seh-NYOH-rah

ma'am!

A polite way to address a woman. The 'ñ' sounds like 'ny' in 'canyon': 'seh-NYO-rah'.

Example

Gracias, señora.

Thank you, ma'am.

Words in this phrase

señora

[seh-NYOH-rah]

ma'am / madam

A polite way to address an adult woman directly, often used without her name.

Example

Pase, señora.

Come in, ma'am.

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