Greetings in German
Formal and Casual Greetings in German
As you have learned before, there are two ways of addressing someone in German: a polite or formal way using “Sie” and a more casual way using “du”. The same concept applies to greetings. Nowadays it is quite common to use English greetings, like “hi” and “bye bye”, but these are considered to be casual. |
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Saying Hello the Formal Way
| Guten Morgen | Good morning |
| Guten Tag | Good day/ good afternoon |
| Guten Abend | Good evening |
| Gute Nacht | Good night |
Saying Hello the Casual Way
| Hallo (most commonly used) | hello |
| Hey | hey |
| Hi | hi |
| Sei gegrüßt (addressing one person) | “be greeted” |
| Seid gegrüßt (addressing more than one person) | “be greeted” |
Regional Differences:
In the south of Germany, in Bavaria, it is very common to say
| Grüß Gott! | “Morning” |
You won’t hear “Grüß Gott” anywhere else, it really is a Bavarian thing. It’s the same with
| Moin! (short for Guten Morgen) | “greet God” |
which is used in the northern parts of Germany.
Another greeting you will only hear in the south of Germany is:
| Servus | hello |
Saying Good Bye the Formal Way
| Auf Wiedersehen | good bye |
You have probably heard “Auf Wiedersehen” before. It literally means “until we see each other again”.
Saying Good Bye the Casual Way
| Tschüß ( most commonly used) | bye |
| Bis bald | see you soon |
| Bis später | see you later |
| Bis dann | see you then |
| Mach’s gut | “make it good” |
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