¡Hola! Welcome back to your Spanish lessons.
In our last session, we learned two essential hygiene commands: ¡Lávate las manos! and ¡Cepíllate los dientes!. You saw how they both use the verbo + te pattern, which is an efficient way to give instructions to your son.
Today, we'll shift our focus to the very beginning of the day. This lesson will teach you how to wake your son up and greet him in the morning using the key phrases ¡despierta! (wake up!) and buenos días (good morning). Mastering these will help you start each day with a positive and practical Spanish interaction.
1. The Universal Greeting: ¡Buenos días!
The most common and important morning greeting is Buenos días. It literally means "good days," and you can use it with everyone—from your son at home to his teacher at school.
To understand this phrase better, let's look at a resource that breaks it down.
How to Say Good Morning in Spanish in 33 Fitting Ways
The article 'How to Say Good Morning in Spanish' from Berlitz explains the phrase 'Buenos días' and provides a helpful table with variations.
Read the section 'How to say good morning in Spanish'. Pay close attention to the table. Notice the entry for 'Good morning, teacher' ('Buenos días, maestra'), as this will be very useful for you.
As you saw, you can use Buenos días on its own, or you can add a person's name or title, like Buenos días, [son's name] or Buenos días, maestra. This makes it incredibly versatile.
To reinforce its use with children, another great resource lists it as a primary phrase for starting the day.
A printable list of common Spanish phrases to use with kids.
Let's revisit the 'Spanish Playground' list of phrases for kids. It confirms that 'Buenos días' is a fundamental part of the morning routine with a child.
Find the section titled 'Start the Day'. The very first phrase listed is 'Buenos días – Good morning'.
2. The Wake-Up Call: ¡Despierta!
Now, for the action of waking someone up. The command you'll use is ¡Despierta! (Wake up!). It's direct, simple, and easy to remember.
The same Berlitz article that taught us Buenos días also includes ¡Despierta! and some other gentle alternatives that are perfect for waking up a three-year-old.
How to Say Good Morning in Spanish in 33 Fitting Ways
Let's go back to the Berlitz article to find the command 'Wake up!' and other related expressions.
Scroll down to the table under the heading 'Other morning greetings in Spanish'. Find the entry for 'Wake up!', which is '¡Despierta!'. Also, notice other useful phrases in that table like 'Hora de levantarse' (Time to rise) and '¡Arriba!' (Time to get up!).
While ¡Despierta! is the direct command, using softer phrases can also be nice:
Hora de levantarse(Time to get up / Time to rise)¡Arriba!(Up!) - This is a very common, quick, and friendly way to say "get up."
You can combine these phrases to create a warm morning routine. For example, you could start with a gentle ¡Despierta, mi amor! and follow up with a cheerful ¡Buenos días!.
Test your understanding!
It's morning and your son is still asleep. You walk into his room to wake him up. What are two different things you could say to him in Spanish?
Show answer
You could say:
¡Despierta!(Wake up!) followed by¡Buenos días!(Good morning!).- Or you could use a softer alternative like
Hora de levantarse.(Time to get up.)
Key Takeaways
¡Excelente trabajo! You've now learned the essential phrases to start your day in Spanish.
- To greet someone in the morning, you say
Buenos días. You can use this with your son and with his teachers. - To wake someone up, you use the command
¡Despierta!. - Gentle alternatives like
Hora de levantarse(Time to get up) or the simple¡Arriba!(Up!) are also very effective and common.
Next Steps
We've now covered the key phrases for the morning routine, from waking up (¡despierta!), to getting dressed (ponte los zapatos), to hygiene (lávate las manos). In our next lesson, we will complete the daily cycle by learning phrases for the evening: how to say it's time for bed and wish someone a good night.
¡Hasta la próxima