This post is about greetings in German.
Let's start with Hallo and work our way through casual greetings,
formal ways to say hello, and finally the quirky regional ones — Moin up north,
Grüß Gott and Servus down south. Enjoy 🎉.
Common German Greetings
Greetings are an essential part of any language, and German is no exception. In this post, we'll cover the most common German greetings — formal and informal — along with when to use each one and example sentences for each. Once you've worked through these, our list of ways to say thank you in German and our broader German travel phrases roundup are the natural next two stops.
1. Hallo
This is the most common informal greeting in German, similar to "hi" or "hello" in English. Use it with friends, family, and acquaintances.
2. Guten Morgen
Guten Morgen & Guten Abend are semi-formal ways to greet someone
in the morning & evening, respectively.
They're the equivalents to "good morning" and "good evening" in English.
Guten Tag is another variation that you can use throughout the whole day:
3. Tschüss
Tschüss is a casual way to say "bye" in German, similar to "bye" or "see you later" in English.
4. Auf Wiedersehen
Auf Wiedersehen is a more formal way to say "goodbye" in German,
similar to "goodbye" in English. You can use it in professional or
polite situations.
5. Grüß Gott
Grüß Gott is a traditional greeting in southern Germany and Austria, similar to "hello" in English.
6. Moin
This is a casual way to say "hello" in Northern Germany, similar to "hi" or "hey" in English.
7. Servus
This is a casual way to say "hello" or "hi" in Bavaria and Austria. It is also used as a casual goodbye.