Transcription:
In my early 20’s I met a girl.
I worked for a company which sells computers, and she worked for a company that bought those computers to resell them to the final consumers.
The day I first met her, I taught her the basics about computers, so she could explain them to her customers, and afterwards we chatted a little bit.
Eventually we became good friends, but to be honest, I was looking for something more than that.
I remember I used to send her slightly corny messages: a teddy bear drawn with punctuation, followed by the phrase “que tengas un lindo día” (have a nice day).
Don’t judge me, it was normal back then. At least I think so.
And no. In case you’re wondering, it didn’t work. I was sent straight to the friend zone. But I can’t complain; now she is one of my best friends, and I wouldn’t change that.
Anyway, people don’t send messages with punctuation teddy bears anymore, but a ‘have a nice day’ message is still normal.
Actually I’ve learned how to say that in a couple of new languages, and some of my students have asked me how to say that and other similar phrases in Spanish.
So, if you want to learn some nice phrases in Spanish, here are some:
If the day is just starting, you can say “que tengas un lindo día”, and depending on the time of day, you can change it to “que tengas una linda tarde” (have a nice afternoon) or “que tengas una linda noche” (have a nice night).
By the way, you should know that you can only use these phrases with people close to you, like your boyfriend or girlfriend, or that special person you’re interested in, or a really good friend. Otherwise it would sound kind of weird.
Of course, you can also wish a GOOD day to a person who is not that close, you just need to make some small changes in order to sound polite instead of creepy.
- Instead of saying “que tengas un lindo día”, you can say “que tenga un buen día” (have a good day).
- Instead of saying “que tengas una linda tarde”, you can say “que tenga una buena tarde” (have a good afternoon).
- Instead of saying “que tengas una linda noche”, you can say “que tenga una buena noche” (have a good evening/night).
Or if you want a more casual, but still respectful way to say exactly the same thing, you can say: “que le vaya bien”. (This is basically an informal way to hope that someone has a great day.)
Great, now you know how to be nice to other people in Spanish. Just remember, don’t mix up those phrases. That would be awkward.
But you know what? Even if you do, don’t worry. We all make mistakes when we learn a new language, and sometimes they become good memories. I’ll tell you about that another day.
