Knowing how to say 'hello' in different languages often proves to be handy if you travel frequently overseas. To learn how to say hello in different languages, read on.

How To Say Hello In Different Languages

Whenever you meet someone, the first word that you say to greet the person is a “hello”. Although different regions have different customs and languages to say “hello”, the basic essence of the greeting is the same. Nevertheless, what would you do if you were in a foreign land where people don’t speak your language, how will you greet a stranger for the first time? Although traveling with an interpreter can be a good option for you in a foreign country, however, learning a few basic words in the local language can prove to be pretty handy at times. One such most common word is “hello”. Whether you are a tourist, a business traveler, or just curious to learn how to say “hello” in different languages, here is a list that will serve your purpose. Just go through the list and keep it handy as it can be useful.

Saying Hello In Different Languages
  • Afrikaans - haai (Pronounced Ha-I)
  • Albanian - tungjatjeta (Pronounced Toon-jat-yeta)
  • Arabic – marhaban (pronounced Mar-ha-ban)
  • Armenian - barev or parev
  • Azerbaijani - salam pronounced Sa-laam
  • Bahamas – hello (for), hi or heyello (informal)
  • Basque - kaixo (Pronounced kai-show)
  • Bavarian and Austrian German - grüß Gott (Pronounced gruess gott),
  • Bengali - 'aas salamu alaay kum' (In Bangladesh) 'namaskar (In West Bengal, India)
  • Bulgarian - zdraveite, zdrasti (informal)
  • Burmese - mingalarbar
  • Congo - Mambo
  • Czech - dobré ráno (until about 8 or 9 a.m.), dobrý den (formal), dobrý veèer (evening), ahoj (informal; pronounced ahoy)
  • Dutch - hoi (very informal), hallo (informal)
  • English - hello (formal), hi (informal), hey (informal,)
  • Esperanto - saluton (formal), sal (informal)
  • Estonian - tere'
  • Fijian - bula uro
  • Finnish - hyvää päivää (formal), moi or hei (informal)
  • French - salut (informal; silent 't'), bonjour (formal, Pronounced Bonju; 'n' as a nasal vowel),
  • German - hallo (informal), Guten Tag (formal; pronounced gootan taag), Tag (very informal;
  • Greek - yia sou (pronounced yah-soo; informal), yia sas (formal)
  • Hawaiian - aloha
  • Hebrew - shalom (means "hello", "goodbye" and "peace"), hi (informal),
  • Hindi and Nepali - namaste, namaskar (pronounced na-mus-tei),
  • Hungarian, Magyar - jo napot (pronounced yoh naput; formal), szervusz (pronounced sairvoose; informal), szia (pronounced seeya; informal)
  • Icelandic - góðan dag (formal; pronounced gothan dagg), hæ (informal)
  • Indonesian - selamat pagi (morning), selamat siang (afternoon), selamat malam (evening)
  • Italian - ciào (pronounced chow; informal; also means "goodbye"),
  • Japanese - ohayou gozaimasu (pronounced o-ha-yo go-zai-mass; good morning), konnichi wa (pronounced ko-nee-chee-wa; afternoon), konbawa (pronounced gong-ban-wa; evening); moshi moshi (pronounced moh-shee moh-shee; when answering the phone); doumo (pronounced doh-moh; informal way of greeting
  • Jamaican (slang) - Yow Wah gwaan (pronounced wa-gwaan)
  • Kannada – namaskaara
  • Kazakh - Salem
  • Korean - ahn nyeong ha se yo (formal; pronouned ahn-yan-ha-say-yo), ahn nyeong (informal; can also be used to mean "goodbye")
  • Lao - sabaidee (pronounced sa-bai-dee)
  • Latvian - labdien, sveiki, chau (informal; pronounced chow)
  • 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)
  • Luxembourgish - moïen (pronounced MOY-en)
  • Maori - kia ora (kia o ra), tena koe, ata marie, morena (good morning)
  • Mexican - hola
  • Norwegian - hei ("hi"), hallo ("hello")
  • Persian - salaam or do-rood (see note above - salaam is an abbreviation, the full version being as-salaam-o-aleykum in all Islamic societies)
  • Polish - dzieñ dobry (formal), witaj (hello) czeœæ (hi, pronounced, "cheshch")
  • Portuguese - oi, boas, olá or alô (informal)
  • Romanian - salut, buna dimineata (formal; morning) buna ziua (formal; daytime) buna searaformal; evening), buna (usually when speaking to a female pronounced boo-nhuh)
  • Russian - pree-vyet (informal), zdravstvuyte (formal; pronounced ZDRA-stvooy-tyeh)
  • Samoan - talofa (formal), malo (informal)
  • Senegal - salamaleikum
  • Serbian - zdravo (informal), dobro jutro (morning, pronounced dobro yutro), dobar dan (afternoon), dobro veèe (pronounced dobro vetchay evening), laku noæ (night)
  • Sinhala - a`yubowan (pronounced ar-yu-bo-wan; meaning "long live")
  • Slovak - dobrý deò (formal), ahoj (pronounced ahoy), èau (pronounced chow) and dobrý (informal abbreviation)
  • Slovenian — živjo (informal; pronounced zhivyo), dobro jutro (morning), dober dan (afternoon), dober veèer (evening; pronounced doh-bear vetch-air)
  • South African English - hoezit (pronounced howzit; informal)
  • Spanish - hola (pronounced with a silent 'h': o-la)
  • Swahili - jambo, Habari (hello)
  • Swedish - tja (very informal; pronounced sha), hej (informal; pronounced hey), god dag (formal)
  • Swiss German - grüzi (pronounced grew-tsi)
  • Tahitian - ia orana
  • Tamil - vanakkam
  • Telugu- namaskaram
  • 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
  • Tsonga (South Africa) - minjhani (when greeting adults), kunjhani (when greeting your peer group or your juniors)
  • Turkish - merhaba (formal), nevar? (Informal)
  • Ukranian - dobriy ranok (formal; morning), dobriy den (formal; afternoon), dobriy vechir (formal; evening), pryvit (informal)
  • Uzbek - Assalomu Alay

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