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How can you say hi in German, other than the usual hello and hi? What is the appropriate way to say hi depending on the place, time, and person you are talking to? We will explain how to say hi in German in this article. It may seem overwhelming, but don’t worry. You will have the confidence to greet someone in German in any situation and setting by starting with the most common greetings and working your way down to greetings used only in specific situations.
Hi in German: Hallo
In German, How Do You Say Hi?
Germans generally say “Hallo” when they want to say “hi”. Greetings like this are casual. Greeting your family and friends is the only time to use it.
Here’s How the Word is Pronounced
/haˈloː/
For practice, it may be helpful to split the word into two parts: “Ha” and “llo”.
- If you want to say “Good day” You can say “Guten Tag”
- To say “Good morning” say “Guten Morgen”
- For Good evening, you can say Guten Abend
- To say simply “Hi” use the word “Servus”
- To say how’re you? in German, say Wie geht’s ?
- Was geht? means What’s up? in German
Greeting For a Friend versus a Colleague or Professional Acquaintance?
When saying hi in different languages, there are many ways and situations. In general, when talking to a professional acquaintance, you should use formal greetings like “Guten Tag”; with friends, you should use informal greetings like “Na?” or “Hallo!”. It is also important to distinguish between the informal “du” and the formal “Sie”. There is a huge difference between the casual “Grüß dich!” and the formal “Grüß Sie!”
After you have built a relationship with a German colleague, however, it is quite common for them to revert to a more casual way of speaking. Pay attention to how people greet you and respond appropriately if you want to figure out what greeting you should use.
Arslan Hussain, founder of The Different Languages, is an experienced translator passionate about languages and cultures. Through his website, he shares his knowledge and love for different languages, making learning accessible and enjoyable.