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How to Say ‘Good afternoon, young man.’ in Mexican Spanish

Buenas tardes, joven.

BWEH-nahs TAR-dehs HOH-ben

[BWEH-nahs TAR-dehs HOH-ben]

Phrase Breakdown

Buenas tardes,

BWEH-nahs TAR-dehs

Good afternoon,

A polite greeting used from about noon until dark. Link the two words smoothly: 'BWEH-nahs TAR-dehs'.

Example

Buenas tardes, señor.

Good afternoon, sir.

Words in this phrase

Buenas

[BWEH-nahs]

good

A shortened greeting word from phrases like 'buenas tardes' or 'buenas noches.' In Mexico, it can be used casually to greet someone.

Example

Le dije «Buenas» al taxista antes de hablar del precio.

I said "Hi/Good evening" to the taxi driver before talking about the price.

tardes

[TAR-dehs]

afternoon

Means 'afternoon' and is used with 'buenas' in the greeting 'buenas tardes.'

Example

Tardes como esta siempre hay tráfico en el centro.

On afternoons like this there is always traffic downtown.

joven.

HOH-ben

young man

In Mexico 'joven' is a common, friendly way to address a young man or a male worker. The 'j' sounds like a strong English 'h': 'HOH-ven'.

Example

Oiga, joven, ¿me ayuda?

Excuse me, young man, can you help me?

Words in this phrase

joven

[HOH-ben]

young man / buddy

Literally 'young person,' but in Mexico it is often used to address someone casually, like 'young man' or 'buddy.'

Example

Oiga, «Joven», ese precio no coincide con la app.

Hey, "young man/buddy," that price doesn't match the app.

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