A0 · 14 · Complete beginner

Spanish for Enjoy Your Meal, Cheers and Bless You

These are the small wishes that make everyday exchanges feel complete, whether someone is starting lunch, raising a glass, sneezing, travelling or leaving for the weekend. Learning them as complete phrases helps you respond immediately instead of searching for a word-by-word translation.

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What you'll be able to do

✓Choose the right everyday wish for meals, toasts, sneezes, travel, weekends and illness.
✓Say ten useful wishes and replies as complete phrases.
✓Recognise the informal weekend wish buen finde.
✓Reply with igualmente when the same wish applies to both people.

Complete phrases for real moments

These short expressions belong to particular moments. Choosing the right moment matters more than translating every word separately.

Treat que aproveche, que te mejores and que vaya bien as complete phrases for now. Their internal grammar comes later, but you can already use them naturally.

Meals, toasts and sneezes

Say que aproveche just before someone starts eating or while they are beginning. A person serving food, a host or another diner can use it.

Salud works in two situations. It means “Cheers” when glasses are raised and “Bless you” after a sneeze. It literally means “health”, and the situation makes the intended meaning clear.

Jesús is another conventional response to a sneeze. Unlike salud, it is not used for a toast. English uses two unrelated expressions, “Cheers” and “Bless you”, where Spanish can use the same word.

Moment	What to say	Meaning	Usual reply
Someone is about to eat	¡Que aproveche!	Enjoy your meal!	Gracias. / Igualmente, if both are eating
People raise their glasses	¡Salud!	Cheers!	¡Salud!
Someone sneezes	¡Salud! / ¡Jesús!	Bless you!	Gracias.

Luck, travel and recovery

Use suerte before an exam, a match or another situation where someone may need luck. Buen viaje is the more specific wish when someone is travelling.

Que te mejores is said informally to one person, such as a friend or someone you call tú. English keeps “Get well soon” unchanged, but the Spanish phrase changes when you address someone formally or speak to several people. Those forms come later.

Moment	What to say	Meaning
Before something that may need luck	¡Suerte!	Good luck!
Before someone travels	¡Buen viaje!	Have a good trip!
When one friend is unwell	¡Que te mejores!	Get well soon!

Weekend wishes and partings

Buen fin de semana is the full weekend wish. Finde is short for fin de semana, so buen finde means the same thing in an informal way. You only need to recognise the shorter version for now.

Que vaya bien is useful when someone is leaving and there is no more specific wish to give. Learn it as a complete phrase meaning roughly “Hope it goes well” or “Have a good one”.

Use	What you hear	Meaning
The full weekend wish	¡Buen fin de semana!	Have a good weekend!
An informal shortened version	¡Buen finde!	Have a good weekend!
A broad friendly wish when parting	¡Que vaya bien!	Hope it goes well! / Have a good one!

Returning a wish

Do not return every wish automatically. If someone serving your meal says que aproveche but is not eating, gracias is enough.

If you and the other person are both about to eat, you can return que aproveche with igualmente or gracias, igualmente. The same replies work when someone wishes you a good weekend or says que vaya bien.

English often uses “you too”. The ready-made Spanish reply is igualmente.

Situation	Reply	Meaning
The wish applies only to you	Gracias.	Thanks.
The same wish applies to both people	¡Igualmente!	Same to you!
You want to thank and return the wish	¡Gracias, igualmente!	Thanks, same to you!

The words

¡Que aproveche!: Enjoy your meal!Said before or as someone begins eating.
¡Salud!: Cheers! / Bless you!Used for a toast or after a sneeze; the situation supplies the meaning.
¡Jesús!: Bless you!A conventional response after a sneeze, not a toast.
¡Suerte!: Good luck!Used before something that may need luck.
¡Buen viaje!: Have a good trip!Said before someone travels.
¡Buen fin de semana!: Have a good weekend!The full weekend wish.
¡Buen finde!: Have a good weekend!An informal shortened form to recognise.
¡Que te mejores!: Get well soon!Said informally to one person.
¡Que vaya bien!: Hope it goes well! / Have a good one!A broad friendly wish when someone is leaving.
¡Igualmente!: Same to you!Returns a wish that applies to both people.
¡Gracias, igualmente!: Thanks, same to you!Thanks someone and returns their wish.

More examples: real moments

A picnic in the parkAt lunchtime in Retiro Park, Lucía and Javi are both about to start their picnic.

Lucía: ¡Que aproveche!Enjoy your meal!
Javi: ¡Gracias, igualmente!Thanks, same to you!

At the pharmacyAt the pharmacy, Rosa speaks to Tom when he is feeling unwell.

Rosa: ¿Qué tal?How are you?
Tom: Regular.So-so.
Rosa: ¡Que te mejores!Get well soon!
Tom: Muchas gracias.Thank you very much.

Before a flightAt Madrid airport, Carmen sees Tom before he leaves for a trip.

Carmen: ¡Buen viaje!Have a good trip!
Tom: Muchas gracias.Thank you very much.
Carmen: Hasta luego.See you later.
Tom: Adiós.Goodbye.

Leaving the squareAfter coffee in the square, Rosa and Carmen say goodbye.

Carmen: Hasta luego, Rosa.See you later, Rosa.
Rosa: ¡Que vaya bien!Have a good one!
Carmen: ¡Igualmente!Same to you!

Remember

•Use que aproveche before or as someone begins eating.
•Say salud for a toast or after a sneeze.
•Use Jesús after a sneeze, but not for a toast.
•Recognise buen finde as an informal shortened weekend wish.
•Reply with igualmente only when the same wish applies to both people.
•Use gracias, igualmente to thank someone and return their wish.

Practice

Type or choose your answer; each one is checked as you go.

1. Match the wish to the moment

Choose the phrase that best fits each moment.

1.Everyone raises a glass. What do you say?
2.Someone sneezes. Choose the response that is not also used for a toast.
3.A friend is about to start eating. What do you say?
4.You want to say exactly “Good luck!”
5.Tom is leaving for a trip. Choose the specific travel wish.

2. Complete the fixed phrase

Fill each gap with the missing word.

1.Your friend is unwell. Complete ¡Que te !
2.It is Friday. Complete ¡Buen fin de !
3.Someone is leaving after an ordinary visit. Complete ¡Que vaya !
4.Your friend is travelling. Complete ¡Buen !

3. Give the Spanish wish

Write the Spanish phrase taught in this lesson that matches each English wish.

1.Enjoy your meal!
2.Good luck!
3.Get well soon! Say it to one friend.
4.Use the full phrase for “Have a good weekend!”
5.Give the broad friendly parting wish “Have a good one!”

4. Answer the wish

Write the most natural reply for each situation.

1.A person serving your meal says ¡Que aproveche!, but they are not eating. Reply naturally.
2.You and Lucía are both about to eat. She says ¡Que aproveche!. Reply with the short phrase meaning “Same to you”.
3.Javi says ¡Buen fin de semana!. Thank him and return the wish using igualmente.
4.Carmen sneezes. Reply with the response that is not also used for a toast.

Write your own good wishes

Write three two-line exchanges: a meal wish and reply, a Friday goodbye and reply, and a wish for travel, luck or recovery with its reply. Then say all six lines aloud.

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Grammar in this lesson: Tú, usted, vosotros and ustedes · The present subjunctive

Revised 31 October 2026