How to Say Hello in 111 Foreign Languages (2023)

As the nutty travel fanatic that you are, I’m sure you often find yourself toasting new friends with a hearty “cheers” or politely offering a polite “thank you” for a gracious favour. But of all thebasic phrases to master in a foreign language, none strikes a conversation better than a simple “hello.”

Whether you find yourself in Asia, Africa, Europe, Middle East or The Pacific, this guide of 111+ waysto say hello in different languages will get you making friends quicker than you can say “Hola!”

I’ve split the languages off bygeographic area, starting from easiest to learn for English speakers to the most difficult (or least familiar, if you prefer). Included are the original spellings (or transliterations for languages not written in Latin-based scripts) and a rough pronunciation guide.

Europe

If you’re set on a mission to learn hello in different languages, here’sthe logical starting point. European languages are among the easiest languages to learn for English speakers. Between the Romance languages and Germanic languages, two of the major Indo-European language families, there’s much overlap.

As you’re ripping through the list, you’ll notice quite a few similarities between languages on the same branch. With the exception of a handful ofmore obscure European languages, you should have no problem memorizing most of this list in no time!

Albanian

• tungjatjeta(toon-jah-TYEH-tah) — hello (formal)
• tjeta(TYEH-tah) — hello (informal)

Basque

• kaixo (kai-sho) — hello

Belarusian

• vitaju (vee-TAH-you) — hello

Breton

• demat (de-mat) — hello / good day

Bulgarian

• zdravejte (zdrah-VEY-teh) — hello (formal)
• zdravej (zdrah-VEY) — hello (informal)

Bosnian

• dobar dan (DOH-bahr dahn) — good day
• zdravo (ZDRAH-voh) / merhaba (MEHR-hah-bah) — hello (informal)

Catalan

• hola (OH-lah) — hello

Croatian

• bok (bohk) — hello

Czech

• dobrý den (DOH-bree dehn) — good day
• ahoj (ahoy) — hello

Danish

• hallo (ha-loh) — hello
• hej (hai) — hi/hey

Dutch

• hallo (HAH-low) — hello

Estonian

• tere (TEHR-reh) — hello

Finnish

• hyvää päivää (HOO-vah PAI-vah) — good day
• terve (TEHR-veh) — hello
• moi (moy) / hei (hay) — hey

French

• bonjour (bohn-ZHOOR) — hello / good day
• salut (sah-LOO) — hello (informal)

Frisian

• goeie (GOO-ee) — hello

Irish

• dia duit (DEE-ah GHWIT) — hello

Gaelic

• halò (ha-lo) — hello

German

• guten tag (goo-ten tahk) — good day / hello
• hallo (ha-loh) — hello (informal)

Greek

• yasass (YAH sahss) — hello (formal)
• yassou (YAH soo) — hello (informal)

Hungarian

• szervusz (SEHR-voos) — hello
• szia (SEE-ah) — hello (informal)

Icelandic

• góðan dag (goh-than da-yin) — good day
• halló (ha-loh) — hello
• hæ (hai) — hi

Italian

• buon giorno (bwohn JOHR-noh) — good day/hello
• salve (SAHL-veh) — hello (formal)
• ciào (chow) — hello (informal)

Latvian

• sveika (SVEH-kah) — hello (to a male)
• sveiks (SVEH-eeks) — hello (to a female)

Lithuanian

• labas (LAH-bahs) — hi
• sveikas (SVAY-kahs) — hello (to a male)
• sveika (svay-KAH) — hello (to a female)
• sveiki (svay-KEE) — hello (plural)

Luxembourgish

• moïen (moy-en) — hello

Norwegian

• god dag (goo dahg) — hello
• hei (hay) — hi

Polish

• dzień dobry (jeen doh-bree) — good day / hello
• cześć (cheshch)— hello

Portuguese

• olá (oh-lAH) — hello

Romanian

• salut (sah-LOOT) — hello

TIP: Start conversing quickly in a number of different European languages with the Lonely Planet Europe Phrasebook! IncludesBulgarian, Croatian, Czech, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish and Turkish.

Russian

• zdravstvuyte (ZDRAHST-vooy-tyeh) — hello
• privet (pree-VYEHT) / zdorovo (zduh-ROH-vuh) — hello (informal)

Serbian

• zdravo (ZDRAH-voh) — hello

Slovak

• dobrý deň (OH-bree deñ) — good day / hello (formal)
• ahoj (ah-hoy) / čau (chow) — hello (informal)

Slovene

• živjo (ZHEE-vyoh) / zdravo (ZDRAH-voh) — hello

Spanish

• hola (oh-lah) — hello

Swedish

• hej (heh) — hello

Ukrainian

• dobriy den (DOH-bree dehn’) — good day / hello
• vitayu (vee-TAH-yoo) — hello (formal)
• pryvit (prih-VEET) — hello (informal)

Welsh

• helo (he-loh) — hello
• s’mae (s-my/shoo-my) — hello (informal)

Yiddish

• a gutn tog (a goo-ten tawg) — good day / hello
• sholem-aleykhem (shoh-lem ah-leh-khem) — hello (greeting)
• aleykhem-sholem (ah-leh-khem shoh-lem) — hello (response)

Middle East

Heading into the Middle East, things will get a little tougher on your quest to learn hello in different languages. In fact, Middle Eastern languages can be among the hardest languages to learn for English speakers! Unlike the Indo-European languages above, you’ll find very little overlap or similarity with English or other more familiar languages here. Best of luck!

Arabic

• as-salām ‘alaykum (ahs-sahlahm ‘ah-leh-loom) — hello (formal)
• marhaban (mahr-hah-bahn) / ahlan (ah-lahn) — hello (informal)

Hebrew

• shalom (shah-LOHM) — hello

Kurdish (Kurmanji)

• merheba (mer-he-bah) / silav (see-lav) — hello

TIP: Get beyond hello on your trip to the Middle East with the Lonely Planet Middle East Phrasebook. IncludesArabic, Egyptian Arabic, Farsi, Gulf Arabic, Hebrew, Levantine Arabic, Tunisian Colloquial Arabic and Turkish.

Persian

• salâm (sah-laam) / dorud (doh-rood) — hello

Turkish

• merhaba (mehr-hah-bah) — hello
• selam (sel-um) — hello (informal)

Asia

Here’s where things truly get interesting—and more difficult! The linguistic diversity in Asia is staggering, meaning most of what you’ve learned so far won’t help you. With the exception of the Turkic languages of Central Asia and the few Asian languages influenced by European colonization, much of what you’ll see here will be new to you. The good news is as you work through these new language families/branches, you’ll begin to cross some similarities, making it easier as you trek along.

Another point worth mentioning is that many Asian languages—Thai, Lao, Cambodian, Vietnamese, Cantonese, Chinese, etc.—are tonal languages. As you speak, your pitch and your pitch changes can drastically alterthe meaning of words and phrases. Transliterating and producing phonetic equivalents using English sounds for these languages can be challenging, if not impossible. Take the pronunciation notes here with a grain of salt. You may even want to double check your pronunciation with a friendly native speaker before busting out one of these “hellos” in public!

Armenian

• barev dzez (bah-REV DZEZ) — hello
• barev (bah-REV) — hello (informal)

Azerbaijani

• salam (sah-lam) — hello

Bengali

• nômoshkar (naw-mo-shkar) — hello (for Hindus)
• assalamualaikum (ahs-sah-lahmoo-ah-lay-koom) / salam (sah-lahm) — hello (for Muslims)

Burmese

• mingalarba (min-ga-la-ba) — hello

TIP: Going to Southeast Asia? Push your conversations in Burmese, Thai, Cambodian, Vietnamese, and Lao to the next level with the Berlitz Southeast Asia Phrasebook.

Cambodian

• chum reap suor (*) — hello (formal)
• sous-dey (*) — hello (informal)

Cantonese

• néih hóu (*) — hello

Chinese

• nǐ hǎo (nee how) — hello

Dzongkha

• kuzu-zangpo (koo-zoo-zang-poh) — hello

Georgian

• gamarjoba (gah-mahr-joh-bah) — hello

Gujarati

• namaste (nah-mah-steh) — hello
• kem cho (kem-choh) — hello (lit. How are you?)

Hindi

• namaste (nah-mah-steh) — hello

TIP: Few countries in the world are as linguistically diverse as India. Dig into some of India’s most-spoken languages with the Lonely Planet India Phrasebook. Includesssamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Malayalam, Marathi, Marwari (Rajasthani), Oriya, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu.

Indonesian

• halo (hah-loh) — hello

Japanese

• konnichiwa (kohn-nee-chee-wah) — good afternoon / hello

Kannada

• namaste (nah-mah-steh) /namaskāra (nah-mah-skah-rah) — hello

Kazakh

• sälemetsiz be? (sah-lem-met-siz beh) — hello (formal)
• sälem (sah-lem) — hello (informal)

Korean

• annyeonghaseyo (an-nyee-ong-hah-seh-yo) — hello (formal)
• annyeong (ah-nyee-ong) — hello (informal)

Kyrgyz

• salamatsyzby (sah-lam-aht-seez-bee) — hello (formal)
• salam (sah-lam) — hello (informal)

Lao

• sabaidee (sah-bai-dee) — hello

Malay

• selamat pagi (se-lah-maht pah-gee) — good morning
• hello (he-loh) — hello
• selamat petang (se-lah-maht pe-tahng) — good afternoon
• selamat malam (se-lah-maht mah-lahm) — good night
• hai (hai) — hello (informal)

TIP: Kill two birds with one stone! Malay and Indonesian are two sides of the same linguistic coin. The Everyday Malay Phrase Book and Dictionaryis a good place to start getting down some vocabulary quickly.

Malayalam

• namaskaram (nah-mah-skahr-ahm) — hello (formal)
• aay (ah-yeh) — hello (informal)

Mongolian

• sain baina uu (sain bai-na OO) — hello

Nepali

• namaste (nah-mahs-teh) — hello

Pashto

• salaam (sah-lahm) — hello
• khe chare (KHEH chah-reh) — hello (informal)

Punjabi

• sat sri akal ji (saht sree ah-kahl jee) — hello (formal, Sikh)
• asalamwalaykum (ah-sah-lahm-wah-lay-koom) — hello (formal, Muslim)
• sat sri akal (saht sree ah-kahl) — hello (informal, Sikh)
• salaam (sah-laam) — hello (informal, Muslim)

Sinhala

• āyubōvan (ah-yuh-boh-van) — hello (formal)
• halō (ha-loh) — hello (informal)

Tagalog

• kumusta? (koo-moos-ta) — hello
• helów (hey-LOW) — hello (informal)

Taiwanese Hokkien

• lí-hó (lee-hoh) — hello

Tamil

• vaṇakkam (vah-nahk-kahm) — hello

Tatar

• isänmesez (ees-aen-meh-sehz) / sawmısız (saw-mis-siz) — hello
• sälam (sae-lahm) — hello (informal)

Telugu

• namaskārām (nah-mahs-kaar-am) — hello

Thai

• sà-wàt-dee (*) — hello

Tibetan

• tashi delek (tah-shee del-ek) — hello

TIP: Need to add a little mystery to your persona? Start learning the enigmatic, yet insanely difficult, Tibetan language with the Lonely Planet Tibetan Phrasebook.

Urdu

• āssālam ‘alaykum (ahs-sah-lahm ah-lay-koom) — hello (greeting)
• wālaikum assalām (wah-lay-koom ahs-sah-lahm) — hello (response)
• salām (sah-lam) — hello (informal)

Uyghur

• ässalamu läykum (aes-sah-lahm-oo lae-koom) — hello (greeting)
• wä’äläykum ässalam (wae-aelae-koom aes-sah-lahm) — hello (response)
• yahshimusiz (yah-shih-moo-sihz) — hello (informal)

Uzbek

• assalomu aleykum (ahs-sah-lo-moo ah-lay-koom) — hello (formal)
• salom (sah-lom) — hello (informal)

Vietnamese

• xin chào (sin chow) — hello

Oceania

All of the languages I’ve included here (except Tok Pisin) belong to the Austronesian language family. Acouple Asian languages we’ve already covered—Malay, Indonesian, and Tagalog—hang outon this language branch, too. Unfortunately, it won’t help you much for learning how to say hello in these languages. Most share little in common. No worries though: Austronesian languages are fairly easy to pronounce, and keep things simple with short, easy-to-remember “hellos.”

Fijian

• ni sa bula (nee sah boo-lah) — hello
• bula (boo-lah) — hello (informal)

Hawaiian

• aloha (ah-loh-hah) — hello

Maori

• tēnā koe (teh-nah koy) — hello (to one person)
• kia ora (kee-ah aw-rah) — hello (informal)
• tēnā kōrua (teh-nah kaw-roo-uh) — hello (to two people)
• tēnā koutou (teh-nah koh-toh)— hello (to three or more people)

TIP: Even though they are completely unrelated to English, the languages of the South Pacific are easy enough to learn. Get started with the funky Lonely Planet South Pacific Phrasebook.

Marshallese

• yokwe (YAW-kweh) — hello

Palauan

• alii (ah-LEE) — hello

Samoan

• tālofa (tah-low-fah) — hello
• malō (mah-loh) — hello (informal)

Tahitian

• ia ora na (ee-ah oh-rah-na) — hello

Tok Pisin

• gude (goo-deh) — hello

Tongan

• mālō e lelei (mah-loh ah leh-leh) — hello

Africa

Even Asia can’t compete with Africa in linguistic diversity. There are literally thousands of languages spoken on the continent spread over at least six major language families.

I’ve done what I can to include most of the major lingua francas of the region. You’ll notice far less overlap between the languages, even betweenthose in the same language family. Mastering hello in these languages might be a bit more of a challenge than expected!

Afrikaans

• hallo (hah-loh) — hello

Amharic

• tena jistilign (teh-nah yihst-ihl-ihgn) — hello (formal)
• selam (sae-lahm) — hello (informal)

Chichewa

• moni (moh-nee) /muli bwanji (moo-lee bwahn-jee) — hello

Hausa

• salama alaikum (sah-lahm-ah ah-lai-koom) — hello (formal)
• sannu (sahn-noo) — hello (informal)

Igbo

• ndêwó (in-deh-woh) — hello (formal)
• kèdú (keh-doh) — hello (informal)

Kinyarwanda

• muraho (moo-rah-hoh) — hello
• bite (bee-teh) — hello (informal)

Lingala

• mbote (mboh-teh) — hello

Luganda

• ki kati(kee kah-tee) — hello (informal)

Malagasy

• manao ahoana (man-ow ah-ohn-ah) / salama (sah-lAHm-ah) / akory (ah-kOO-ree)
  miarahaba (mee-arah-hah-bah) — hello

Ndebele

• salibonani (sah-lee-boh-nah-nee) — hello

Northern Sotho

• dumêlang (doo-meh-lang) — hello

TIP: Want a brief introduction to the major languages of Africa? Start out with the Lonely Planet Africa Phrasebook. Includes Afrikaans, Amharic, Arabic, French, Hausa, Malagasy, Portuguese, Shona, Swahili, Wolof and Xhosa.

Oromo

• ashamaa (ah-shah-maa) — hello
• attam (aht-tahm) — hello (informal)

Sesotho

• dumela (doo-meh-lah) — hello

Shona

• mhoro (mhoh-roh) — hello (singular)
• mhoroi (mhoh-roh-ee) — hello (plural)

Swahili

• jambo (jahm-boh) — hello
• hujambo (hoo-jahm-boh) — hello

Swati

• sawubona (sah-woo-boh-nah) — hello

Tigrinya

• selam (seh-lahm) — hello

Tsonga

• avuxeni(ah-voo-sheh-nee) — hello (greeting)
• ahee(ah-hee) — hello (response)

Tswana

• dumela (doo-meh-lah) — hello

Wolof

• salaam aleekum (sah-laam ah-ley-koom) — hello

Xhosa

• molo (maw-law) — hello

Yoruba

• bawo (bah-woh) — hello

Zulu

• sawubona (sah-woo-boh-nah) — hello