Say something today: hello and goodbye

You can hold a first German conversation before you have learnt a single verb ending. Greetings are fixed phrases: nobody builds good morning from parts, and you need not build the German either. Learn the dozen below whole, and make one real choice: du or Sie.

The whole set on one screen

Hello, by the clock

Hallo is the safe default. It works at any hour, with friends or shop staff: Hallo, Anna! - Hi, Anna!

The other greetings are tied to the time of day. Read the day from left to right:

1234

1. 1Guten Morgen
2. 2Guten Tag
3. 3Guten Abend
4. 4Gute Nacht

Guten Morgen until about 10 or 11, Guten Tag through the day, Guten Abend from about 6 pm, Gute Nacht at bedtime: a goodbye, never a hello.

Gute Nacht is the odd one out. It is not a hello at all: you say it when someone goes to bed, or when you part late at night.

Goodbye: casual or polite

Tschüss is the everyday bye: Tschüss, bis später! - Bye, see you later! Auf Wiedersehen is the full, slightly formal goodbye, literally until we see each other again: Auf Wiedersehen, Frau Weber! - Goodbye, Mrs Weber!

With an official or someone senior, choose Auf Wiedersehen. With most other people, Tschüss is fine. For a friend you will see again soon: Bis bald! - See you soon!

Regional greetings

Hallo works everywhere, but you will hear local ones. Recognise them; you need not say them.

Moin is not just "morning": in the north it works all day, so Moin! at four in the afternoon is simply Hello!.