How to Say Hello in Different Languages
Afrikaans - haai (hello) pronounced Ha-i
Albanian - tungjatjeta pronounced To-gyat-yeta it means have a long life or c'kemi (hi)
A'Leamona - tél nìdõ (good day) pronounced tehl-neye-doe
Arabic - subbah-el-kheir (good morning), masaa-el-khair (good evening): note that Kh is
pronounced from the back of the throat. mArHAbAn (Hello) pronounced Mar-ha-ban
Armenian - barev or parev
Azerbaijani - salam (hello) pronounced Sa-lam
Bahamas – hello (formal), hi or heyello (informal), what you sayin', Buyh? (very informal - slang)
Basque - kaixo (pronounced kai-show), egun on (morning; pronounced egg-un own), gau on (night; pronounced gow own)
Basque - kaixo (pronounced kai-show), egun on (morning; pronounced egg-un own), gau on (night; pronounced gow own)
Bavarian and Austrian German - grüß Gott (pronounced gruess gott), servus (informal; also means "goodbye"; pronounced zair-voos)
Bengali — aas salamu alaay kum (In Botswana Dumeleng [formal]), wareng (Bangladesh [informal]), namaskar (In West Bengal, India)
Bremnian - koali (pronounced kowalee)
Bulgarian - zdravei, zdraveite (to many), zdrasti (informal), Dobro utro (morning), Dobar den (day), Dobar vecher (evening)
Burmese - mingalarba
Cambodian - Sour Sdey (informal), Jum Reap Sour (formal), good morning, Arun Sour Sdey, good afternoon Tivea Sour Sdey, good evening Sayoan Sour Sdey, good night Reatrey Sour Sdey, good bye Lea Hoy (informal), Jum Reap Lea (formal)
Cape-Verdean Creole - oi, olá
Catalan - hola (pronounced o-la), bon dia (pronounced bon dee-ah)good morning, bona tarda (bona tahr-dah) good afternoon, bona nit (bona neet)good night. You can also say just "Bones (bo-nahs) to make it informal.
Chamorro - hafa adai (hello/what's up?), hafa? (informal), howzzit bro/bran/prim/che'lu? (informal), sup (informal)and all other English greetings
Chichewa - moni bambo! (to a male), moni mayi! (to a female)
Chinese - 你好, Cantonese nei ho or lei ho (pronounced nay ho or lay ho) Mandarin 你好
(pronounced ni hao), 早上好（pronounced zao shang hao; good morning!）
Congo - mambo
Cree - Tansi (pronounced Dawnsay)
Croatian - bok (informal), dobro jutro (morning), dobar dan (day), dobra večer (evening), laku noć (night)
Czech - dobré ráno (until about 8 or 9 a.m.), dobrý den (formal), dobrý večer (evening), ahoj (informal; pronounced ahoy)
Danish - hej (informal; pronounced hey), god dag (formal), god aften (evening; formal), hejsa (very informal).
D'ni - shorah (peace)
Double Dutch - hutch-e-lul-lul-o (hello), gug-o-o-dud mum-o-rug-nun-i-nun-gug (good morning; formal), gug-o-o-dud a-fuf-tut-e-rug-nun-o-o-nun (good afternoon; formal), gug-o-o-dud e-vuv-e-nun-i-nun-gug (good evening; formal)
Dutch - hoi (very informal), hallo (informal), goedendag (formal)
English - hello (formal), hi (informal), hey (informal,)
Esperanto - saluton (formal), sal (informal)
Estonian - tere'
Egyptian Arabic - Salaam Alekum'(sulam ulakume) (Goodbye) Ma Salaama (ma sulama) the "U" is pronounced its usual way(Example:up)
Fijian - 'Bula Uro' (Informal Hello) and 'Bula Vinaka' (Formal Hello) is pronounced 'Buh-la Vina-kah'
Finnish - hyvää päivää (formal), moi or hei (informal), moro (Tamperensis)
French - salut (informal; silent 't'), bonjour (formal, for daytime use; 'n' as a nasal vowel), bonsoir (good evening; 'n' is a nasal vowel), bonne nuit (good night). There is also "ça va", but this is more often used to mean "how are you?"
Gaelic - dia duit (informal; pronounced gee-ah ditch; literally "God be with you")
Georgian - gamardjoba
German - hallo (informal), Guten Tag (formal; pronounced gootan taag), Tag (very informal; pronounced taack).
Gujarathi - kem che
Greek - yia sou (pronounced yah-soo; informal), yia sas (formal)
Hausa - Ina kwaana? (How did you sleep? - informal) or Ina uni? (how's the day? - informal).
Ina kwaanan ku? (formal) or Ina unin Ku (formal)
Hawaiian - aloha
Hebrew - shalom (means "hello", "goodbye" and "peace"), hi (informal), ma kore? (very informal, literally means "whats happening" or "whats up")
Hindi - नमस्ते, namaste (pronounced na-mus-thei)
Hungarian, Magyar - jo napot (pronounced yoh naput; daytime; formal), szervusz (pronounced sairvoose; informal), szia (pronounced seeya; informal)
Icelandic - góðan dag (formal; pronounced gothan dagg), hæ (informal)
Igbo - nde-ewo (pronounced enday aywo), nna-ewo (pronounced enna wo)
Indonesian - halo (hello), selamat pagi (morning), selamat siang (afternoon), selamat malam (evening)
Italian - ciào (pronounced chow; informal; also means "goodbye"), buon giorno (pronounced bwohn geeornoh; good morning; formal), buon pomeriggio (pronounced bwohn pohmehreejeeoh;
good afternoon; formal), buona sera (pronounced bbwoonah sehrah; good evening; formal)
Japanese - おはよう ございます ohayoou gozaimasu (pronounced o-ha-yo (go-zai-mass); good morning), こんにちは konnichi wa (pronounced kong-nee-chee-wa; daytime or afternoon), こんばんは konbanwa (pronounced kong-ban-wa; evening); もし もし moshi moshi (pronounced moh-shee moh-shee; when calling/answering the phone); どうもう doumo (pronounced doh-moh; informal way of thanking/greeting, but means countless other things as well so only use when context makes sense)
Jibberish - huthegelluthego, h-idiguh-el l-idiguh-o (formal), h-diguh-i (informal), h-idiguh-ow a-diguh-re y-idigah-ou? (meaning "how are you?")
Jamaican(slang)- Yow Wah gwaan (pronounced wa-gwaan)
Kanien'kéha (Mohawk) - kwe kwe (pronounced gway gway)
Kannada - namaskara
Kazakh - Salem (hello), Kalay zhagday (How are you?)
Klingon - nuqneH? [nook-neck] (literally: "what do you want?")
Korean - ahn nyeong ha se yo (formal; pronouned ahn-yan-ha-say-yo), ahn nyeong (informal; can also be used to mean "goodbye")
Kurdish — choni, roj bahsh (day; pronounced rohzj bahsh)
Lao - sabaidee (pronounced sa-bai-dee)
Latin (Classical) - salve (pronounced sal-way; when talking to one person), salvete (pronounced sal-way-tay; when talking to more than one person), ave (pronounced ar-way; when talking to one person; when talking to someone respected), avete (pronounced ar-way-tay; when talking to more than one respected person)
Latvian - labdien, sveiki, chau (informal; pronounced chow).
Lingala - mbote
Lithuanian - laba diena (formal), labas, sveikas (informal; when speaking to a male), sveika (informal; when speaking to a female), sveiki (informal; when speaking to more than one person).
Lojban - coi
Lolcat - Ohai!
Luxembourgish - moïen (pronounced MOY-en)
Macedonian - Здраво (Zdravo; meaning Hello), Добро утро (Dobro utro; meaning Good morning), Добар ден (Dobar den; meaning Good day), Добро вечер (Dobro vecher; meaning
Good evening)
Malayalam - namaskkaram
Maldivian (Dhivehi) - kihineth (meaning "how" - the common way of greeting)
Maltese - merħba (meaning "welcome"), bonġu (morning), bonswa or il-lejl it-tajjeb (evening)
Maori - kia ora (kia o ra), tena koe, ata marie, morena (good morning)
Marathi - namaskar
Mongolian - sain baina uu? (pronounced saa-yen baya-nu; formal), sain uu? (pronounced say-noo; informal), ugluunii mend (morning; pronounced ohglohny mend), udriin mend (afternoon, pronounced ohdriin mend), oroin mend (evening; pronounced or-oh-in mend)
Nahuatl - niltze, hao
Navajo - ya'at'eeh
Niuean - faka lofa lahi atu (formal) fakalofa (informal)
Neapolitan - cia, cha
Nepalbhasha - Jwajalapa, ज्वजलपा
Nepali - namaskar, namaste, k cha (informal), kasto cha
Northern German - moin moin
Northern Shoto - dumelang
Norwegian - hei ("hi"), hallo ("hello"), heisann ("hi there"), god morgen ("good morning"), god dag ("good day"), god kveld ("good evening").
Oshikwanyama - wa uhala po, meme? (to a female; response is ee), wa uhala po, tate? (to a male; response is ee) nawa tuu? (response is ee; formal), ongaipi? (meaning "how is it?"; informal)
Oromo(Afan Oromo) - asham (hi')akkam? (how are you?),nagaa (peace, peace be with u)
Persian - salaam or do-rood (see note above - salaam is an abbreviation, the full version being as-salaam-o-aleykum in all Islamic societies)
Pig Latin - eyhay (informal), ellohay (formal), atswhay upay? ("what's up?")
Polish - dzień dobry (formal), witaj (hello) cześć (hi, pronounced, "cheshch")
Portuguese - oi, boas, olá or alô (informal); bom dia or bons dias (good morning, used before noon or before the noon meal); boa tarde or boas tardes (good afternoon, used after noon or after the noon meal, until twilight); boa noite or boas noites (good evening and good night, used after twilight).
Punjabi - sat sri akal
Rajasthani (Marwari)- Ram Ram
Romanian - salut, buna dimineata (formal; morning) buna ziua (formal; daytime) buna searaformal; evening), buna (usually when speaking to a female pronounced boo-nhuh)
Russian - Privet! pronounced as pree-vyet (informal), zdravstvuyte (formal; pronounced ZDRA-stvooy-tyeh)
Samoan - talofa (formal), malo (informal)
Scanian - haja (universal), hallå (informal), go'da (formal), go'maren (morning), go'aften (evening)
Scottish, hi (informal) hello the noo (hello)
Senegal - salamaleikum
Serbian - zdravo, ćao (informal), dobro jutro (morning, pronounced dobro yutro), dobar dan (afternoon), dobro veče (pronounced dobro vetcheah evening), laku noć (night), do viđenja (see you soon)
Sinhala - a`yubowan (pronounced ar-yu-bo-wan; meaning "long live")Kohomada? (ko-ho-ma-da meaning how are you?)
Slovak - dobrý deň (formal), ahoj (pronounced ahoy), čau (pronounced chow) and dobrý (informal abbreviation)
Slovenian — živjo (informal; pronounced zhivyo), dobro jutro (morning), dober dan (afternoon), dober večer (evening; pronounced doh-bear vetch-air)
South African English - hoezit (pronounced howzit; informal)
Spanish - hola (pronounced with a silent 'h': o-la), alo, qué onda (South America;very informal, like "what's up"; pronounced keh ondah), qué hay, (South America; very informal), qué pasa (Spain, informal), buenos días ("good morning"), buenas tardes (afternoon and early evening), buenas noches (late evening and night). These three forms can be made informal by saying "buenas". Also Qué Transa (Mexico;very informal, like "what's up" pronounced keh trahansa).
Qué tál, meaning "what's up", pronounced "kay tal".
Sulka - marot (morning; pronounced mah-rote [rolled r and lengthened o], mavlemas (afternoon; v is pronounced as a fricative b), masegin (evening; g is pronounced as a fricative)
Swahili - jambo, Habari (hello), Habari gani (How are you?)
Swedish - tja (very informal; pronounced sha), hej (informal; pronounced hey), god dag (formal)
Swiss German - hallo (informal), grüezi (formal, pronounced kind of grew-tsi), grüessech (informal, used in the capital "Berne" pronounced grewe-thech)
Tagalog (Pilipino - Philippines) - Kumusta po kayo? (formal, means "How are you, sir or madam", pronounced "kuh-muh-stah poh kah-yoh"), Kumusta ka? (informal, means "how are you?", "kuh-muh-stah kah"). You can also add na when talking to someone you haven't see in a while, Kumusta na po kayo? or Kumusta ka na?. Magandang umaga po (Good morning, pronounced "mah-gan-dang oo-mah-gah poh"), Magandang hapon po (Good afternoon, "mah-gan-dang ha-pon poh"), Magandang gabi po (Good evening or night, "mah-gan-dang gah-beh poh"), Magandang tanghali po (good day, literally midday or noon, "mah-gan-dang tang-ha-leh poh"); NOTE: to make these informal greetings, drop po from the end and add the person's first name. Still, some people use words like mare or pare (very informal greeting, mare pronounced "mah-reh" for a close female friend; pare pronounced "pah-reh" for a close male friend). You may add it either before or after the greeting. Example, Mare, kumusta ka na? or Kumusta ka na, pare?
Tahitian - ia orana
Tamil - vanakkam
Telugu- namaskaram
Telugu - baagunnara (means "how are you?"; formal)
Tetum (Timor - Leste) - bondia (morning), botarde (afternoon), bonite (evening)
Thai - sawa dee-ka (said by a female), sawa dee-krap (said by a male)
Tongan - malo e lelei
Tshiluba - moyo
Tsonga (South Africa) - minjhani (when greeting adults), kunjhani (when greeting your peer
group or your juniors)
Turkish - merhaba selam (formal), selam (Informal)
Ukranian - dobriy ranok (formal; morning), dobriy den (formal; afternoon), dobriy vechir (formal; evening), pryvit (informal)
Uzbek - Assalomu Alaykum (Formal) Salom(Informal) YM
Ung Tongue - Hello (This is a made-up language, like Pig latin. This is pronounced Hung-ee-lung-lung-oh.)
Urdu - adaab ir salam (waley-kum)
Vietnamese - xin chào
Welsh - shwmae (North Wales; pronounced shoe-my)OR Helo
Yiddish - sholem aleikhem (literally "may peace be unto you"), borokhim aboyem or gut morgn (morning), gutn ovnt (evening), gutn tog (day), gut shabbos (only used on the Sabbath)
Zulu - sawubona
