If you wanted to say hello to everyone on the planet, you'd probably need to learn around 7,000 languages. Fortunately, however, there's a better way to greet as many people on the globe as possible. By learning how to say "hello" in the world's 50 most spoken languages, you would be able to say hello to approximately 80% of the world's population. That's right, you could greet nearly 5.7 billion people!
Before we take a look at how to say hello in some of the world's most spoken languages, it's important to clarify that discovering exactly which languages are the most spoken is no easy task. Despite all of the information available, no sources seem to agree upon the total number of speakers since this information isn't readily available for many languages. Many sources offer information about the total number of native speakers by country, and don't take into account non-native language learners. That's why I opted for the information provided by SIL International's Ethnologue, an online publication dedicated to researching the world's languages. The information included the approximate number of native speakers, and, as always, is an educated estimate.
Are you ready to learn how to say hi in the 50 most spoken languages in the world?
Let's take a trip around the world and learn how to greet 80% of the world's population:
"Hello"
1. Mandarin Chinese - 1.3 billion 你好 (nǐ hǎo) (informal) 您好 (nín hǎo) (formal)
2. Spanish - 427 million Hola
3. English - 339 million Hello/hi
4. Arabic - 267 million السلام عليكم (as-salām 'alaykum) (response) و عليكم السلام (wa 'alaykum as-salām) (informal) مرحبا (marḥaban)
5. Hindi - 260 million नमस्ते (namaste) नमस्कार (namaskār)
6. Portuguese - 202 million Brazil: Oi Portugal: Olá
7. Bengali - 189 million হ্যালো (hyālō)
8. Russian - 171 million Здравствуйте (Zdravstvujte) (formal) Привет (Privet) (informal)
9. Japanese - 128 million 今日は (konnichiwa)おっす (ossu) (used between close male friends)
10. Lahnda/Punjabi - 117 million ਸਤਿ ਸ੍ਰੀ ਅਕਾਲ। / ست سِری اَکال (sat srī akāl) ਨਮਸਕਾਰ / نمسکار (namaskar)
11. Javanese - 85 million Halo
12. Korean - 77 million 안녕하십니까 (annyeong-hasimnikka) (formal) 안녕하세요 (annyeonghaseyo) (informal) 안녕 (annyeong) (informal)
13. Wu Chinese (Shanghainese) - 77 million 侬好 (nóng hō) 大家好 (dâka hō) (hello everybody)
14. German - 77 million Hallo/Guten Tag/Servus (used in Austria & Bavaria)
15. French - 76 million Bonjour (formal) Salut (informal)
16. Telugu - 74 million నమస్కారం (namaskārām)
17. Marathi - 72 million नमस्कार (namaskār)
18. Turkish - (8 total) 71 million Merhaba
19. Urdu - 69 million (āssālam 'alaykum) السلام علیکم (reply) (wālaikum assalām) وعليكم السلام (informal) (salām) سلام
20. Vietnamese - 68 million Chào bạn (informal) Chào anh (addressing a male, formal) Chào chị (addressing a female, formal) Chào em (younger male or female)
21. Tamil - 68 million வணக்கம் (vaṇakkam) (male, formal) வணக்க0 (vaṇakkã) (formal)
22. Cantonese - 66 million 你好 (néih hóu)
23. Italian - 63 million Ciao
24. Persian (Farsi) - 61 million (dorood) درود (salâm) سلام
25. Malay - 61 million Selamat pagi (good morning) Selamat petang (good afternoon) Selamat malam (good night) Assalamualaikum (used by Muslims)
26. Thai - 60 million สวัสดี (sà-wàt-dee)
27. Min Nan Chinese - 49 million 食飽未 (Chia̍h pá boeh?) (literally: Eaten full yet?)
28. Polish - 46 million Cześć (informal) Dzień dobry (formal)
29. Gujarati - 46 million નમસ્તે (namaste)
30. Burmese - 42 million မဂႆလာပၝ (min-ga-la-ba)
31. Ukrainian - 39 million Вітаю (Vitayu) (formal) Агов (Ahov) (informal)
32. Malayalam - 34 million നമസ്തെ (namaste) നമസ്കാരം (namaskaram)
33. Hakka Chinese - 34 million 你好 (ngi2 ho3)
34. Kannada - 34 million ನಮಸ್ತೆ (namaste) ನಮಸ್ಕಾರ (namaskāra)
35. Oromo - 34 million akkam
36. Oriya - 31 million ନମସ୍କାର (namascara)
37. Pashto - 31 million (khe chare) ښې چارې (salaam) سلام (as-salaamu' alaykum) السلام عايك
38. Berber - 31 million (Salam) مرحبا
39. Kurdish - 30 million Silaw/Silav (informal) Roj baş (formal)
40. Amharic - 28 million ሰላም። (sälam) (informal) ታዲያስ። (tadyass) (informal) ጤና ይስጥልኝ። (ṭenaisṭəlləň) (formal)
41. Sundanese - 27 million Halo (borrowed from Indonesian)
42. Nepali - 26 million नमस्ते (namaste)
43. Romanian - 26 million Salut, Bună ziua (more formal)
44. Bhojpuri - 25 million प्रणाम (prannam)
45. Tagalog - 25 million Musta (informal) Kumusta (formal) ("hello" and "hi" are also used)
46. Azeri - 24 million Salam/Salam əleyküm (reply) Əleyküm salam
47. Maithili - 24 million Pranam
48. Hausa - 24 million Sannu/Salama alaikum
-or-
A gaishai ka. (reply) Amin. Alaikum salam
49. Yoruba -23 million Ẹ n lẹ
50. Serbo-Croatian - 21 million Здраво (Zdravo)
No Easy Greeting
A quick scan through all of the different ways to say "hello" reveals that a simple greeting is often more complicated than we English speakers imagine. Whether or not the greeting is formal or informal, masculine or feminine, and even the age or religion of the speakers involved can play a role in determining which greeting to use.
Languages reflect cultures and history, and we English speakers are a relatively informal, straightforward group of people. In many cultures, language reflects complex social hierarchies, norms and gender roles, and the best way to learn these languages is to respect and embrace these rules. It may not be easy, but learning a language and how to communicate with its native speakers provides countless benefits and helps you to understand a whole new way of seeing the world.
So what are you waiting for? Starting learning a new language today!
Research before you go, and learn a language.
