German vocabulary/Greetings and Phrases
- Key
(inf) = informal
(for) = formal
Lit. = Literally
| English | German |
|---|---|
| Hello! | Hallo! Moin Moin! (used in northern Germany) |
| Good Morning! | Guten Morgen! |
| Good Evening! | Guten Abend! |
| Good Night! | Gute Nacht! (Only say if you're going to bed! Use 'Guten Abend' until bedtime. Regardless of the hour.) |
| Good Day. | Guten Tag/Tag |
| Hello | Grüß dich! (Lit.: Greet you)-(informal/regional) |
| My name is... | Ich heiße... (Lit.: I am called...) |
| How's it going? | Wie geht's? (inf) Wie geht es Ihnen? (for) Wie geht es dir? (inf) |
| What's up? | Was gibt's? (Literally: What gives it?/What does it give?) (informal/regional) |
| Hello | Grüß Gott! (Literally: Greet God) (regional, southern Germany/Austria mainly) |
| A general purpose greeting, used around mealtimes (enjoy your meal / guten Appetit) | Mahlzeit! |
| Alright! | In Ordnung/Schon gut |
| Goodbye! | Tschüss! |
| Have a nice evening! | schönen Feierabend! |
| Have a good weekend! | schönes Wochenende! |
Greetings used throughout Germany
- Guten Morgen - Good Morning
- Guten Tag - Good Day, Good Afternoon (Note: Germans don't normally say Good Afternoon).
- Guten Mittag - Good noon. (very rare)
- Guten Abend - Good Evening ~ After Work; regional? past 17:00 or 18:00
- Gute Nacht - Good Night ~ reserved for right before bedtime
- Hallo - Hello (Note: Informal: used when speaking to people with whom you are on familiar terms).
Greetings specific to southern Germany
- Grüss Gott (God's greetings -- used predominantly in the South of Germany such as Bavaria and also in Austria)
- Grützi! (used in German speaking Switzerland)
Greetings specific to Austria
- Servus - Hello, Good Day, Good bye (used predominantly in Austria/Vienna and Bavaria, colloquial, informal only)
Informal and Formal
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Germans, to those that are of higher authority or people that they do not know, use formal phrases--such as Guten Morgen and Guten Tag. Informal phrases, such as Tschüss, are used with friends/people you know well. If you were to meet with your teacher (Der Lehrer), you would use formal phrases such as Guten Morgen instead of Hallo, and likewise: Auf Wiedersehen instead of Tschüss.