Common German Greetings

Greeting is used in every dialogue we participate in. German greetings are not that hard to learn but are easy to remember. We’ll show you the most popular German greetings so you won’t be lost.

The main task is to memorize these words and use them as much as you can. Then you’ll greet your friends and others in German as you are a native speaker.

Before greeting anyone remember that the German word “you” differs from the English one. “Du” is used only with friends and persons you know very well. “Sie” is used almost with anyone else. It’s always better to say “Sie” instead of “du” than on the contrary or a person can become very unfriendly with you.

Greetings:

  • Hallo – Hello
  • Guten Morgen – Good morning (formal)
  • Morgen – Morning (informal)
  • Guten Tag – Good day (formal)
  • Tag – Day (informal)
  • Guten Abend – Good evening (formal)
  • Abend – Evening (informal)
  • Area specific German greetings:
  • Moin, moin – Hello, hello (from: Morgen, Morgen) – Northern Germany
  • Gruß Gott – Hello – Southern Germany & Austria
  • Servus – Hello – Austria
  • Grüezi – Hello – Switzerland
  • Salü – Hello – Switzerland
  • Guten Nacht – Good night



Farewell:

  • Auf Wiedersehen – Good bye
  • Tchüs – Bye (informal)
  • Auf Wiederhören – Good bye (on phone)
  • How are you?
  • Wie geht es dir? / Wie geht’s dir? (du) – How are you? (informal)
  • Wie gehn es Ihnen? Wie geht’s Ihnen (Sie) – How are you? (formal)
  • Super – Super
  • Sehr gut – Very good
  • Danke, gut – Thanks, good
  • Es geht – Ok. So – so
  • Nicht so gut – Not so good



Now you know all German greetings so you can greet your German friends. The more you practice the faster these words will sound native to you!



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