How to Say Hello in 33 Languages Around the World

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“Hello” is usually one of the first words I learn in a new language, because one small greeting is enough to open a conversation.

I’ve gathered 34 ways to greet people across 33 languages below. French and English each appear twice, which is why the number of greetings is one higher than the number of languages.

Some of these expressions can be understood word by word, while others have a history connected with peace, health, religion or good fortune. That history is interesting, but it doesn’t define an entire culture, and a greeting’s everyday meaning can differ from its older or literal sense.

Register matters too. A phrase may be formal, informal, gendered, singular or plural, so use the notes as a starting point and listen to how people greet one another where your language is spoken.

A note from the Fluent in 3 Months team before we get started: You can chat away with a native speaker for at least 15 minutes with the “Fluent in 3 Months” method. All it takes is 90 days. Tap this link to find out more.

“Good Day”

Several European greetings are built from words for “good” and “day”. They do not all have the same register, though:

• Romanian: Bună ziua
• French: Bonjour
• German: Guten Tag
• Yiddish: אַ גוטן טאָג (a gutn tog)
• Dutch: Goedendag, a formal daytime greeting
• Swedish: God dag, a formal greeting that can sound dated in everyday conversation, where hej is more common

“Peace”

Peace and well-being sit behind several greetings, although speakers usually hear the whole expression as a greeting rather than translating every part:

• Arabic: السلام عليكم (as-salāmu ʿalaykum), “peace be upon you”
• Korean: 안녕하세요 (annyeonghaseyo), a polite greeting related to annyeong, “peace” or “well-being”
• Hebrew: שלום (shalom), used for “hello” and “goodbye” as well as meaning “peace”
• Azerbaijani: Salam
• Chechen: Салам (salam)

“Good Health”

Other greetings are connected with being healthy, alive or well:

• Russian: Здравствуйте (zdravstvuyte), the polite or plural form, historically connected with wishing health
• Māori: Kia ora, “be well”, now also used for “hello”, “thank you” and other good wishes
• Lao: ສະບາຍດີ (sabaidee), the standard greeting, built from words associated with feeling well and good
• Fijian: Bula, a greeting whose wider meanings include “life” and “health”
• Mandarin Chinese: 你好 (nǐ hǎo), the standard “hello”, formed from the words for “you” and “good”; it is not an abbreviation of 你好吗 (nǐ hǎo ma), “How are you?”
• Estonian: Tere or Tervist; tervist is connected with the word for “health”

“Blessings”

Religion and ideas of blessing have also left their mark on everyday greetings. The modern phrases work as ordinary greetings, even when their history is religious:

• Irish: Dia dhuit, literally “God to you”, when greeting one person; Dia dhaoibh is the plural form
• Tibetan: བཀྲ་ཤིས་བདེ་ལེགས (tashi delek), a greeting associated with auspiciousness and well-being
• Burmese: မင်္ဂလာပါ (mingalaba), a polite greeting built around the idea of auspiciousness
• Hindi: नमस्ते (namaste), from Sanskrit words often glossed as “a bow to you”; the greeting is also used in several other South Asian languages

“Happiness”

Good fortune and happiness appear in the history or wording of these greetings:

• Icelandic: Komdu sæll when speaking to a man, or Komdu sæl when speaking to a woman; the adjective can mean “happy” or “blessed”, but the whole expression functions as a greeting
• Thai: สวัสดี (sawatdee), the standard greeting, from a Sanskrit word connected with well-being and good fortune

“What’s New?”

Some everyday greetings take the form of a question. As with English “How are you?”, the speaker may simply be saying hello rather than asking for a detailed report:

• Swahili: Habari? or Habari yako?, roughly “News?” or “Your news?”
• Ojibwe: Aaniin, a common greeting in several varieties of Ojibwe; spelling, pronunciation and other greetings vary by community
• French: Ça va?, an informal “How’s it going?”
• British English: Alright?, commonly used as an informal greeting

Other Greetings

Plenty of useful greetings do not fit neatly into one literal category:

• Sesotho: Lumela when greeting one person, or Lumelang for more than one
• Georgian: გამარჯობა (gamarjoba), the standard greeting, historically related to the word for “victory”
• Zulu: Sawubona when greeting one person, or Sanibonani for a group; the forms are built from the verb “to see”
• Yapese: Mogethin
• Slovak and Czech: Ahoj!, an informal “hello” or “goodbye” in both languages
• Hawaiian: Aloha, used for “hello” and “goodbye” and carrying wider meanings that include love, affection and compassion
• English: Hello, a greeting that developed from older calls such as hallo and hollo, rather than directly from the modern French words ho and là

Choose one greeting for your language, listen to a recording and notice who uses it with whom. Then try it at the start of a real exchange, because the next sentence matters more than memorising a longer list.

For more context and pronunciation help, see our guides to saying hello in German, hello in Thai and hello in Japanese. When you are ready to use one, our guide to finding a language exchange partner will help you plan the conversation.