How to Say Hi in German: 12 Greetings and When to Use Them
German greetings vary more by formality, region and time of day than a single “hello” translation suggests — using the right one signals you’ve paid attention to context, which matters more socially in Germany than in many English-speaking cultures.
The core greetings
1. Hallo — the universal, safe default. Works in almost any casual context, formal or informal, any time of day. If you only learn one greeting, this is it.
2. Guten Tag — the formal, all-purpose greeting for daytime, used with strangers, in shops, in offices, with anyone you’d address as Sie. Genuinely important to know and use in professional or unfamiliar contexts, where Hallo alone can feel slightly too casual.
3. Guten Morgen — good morning, used until roughly late morning (opinions vary on the exact cutoff, generally somewhere before 10–11am).
4. Guten Abend — good evening, used from early evening onward, roughly after 5–6pm.
5. Servus — informal, used widely in Bavaria and Austria specifically, functions as both hello and goodbye. Using this outside southern German-speaking regions can sound slightly out of place, though it’s widely understood everywhere.
6. Moin (or Moin Moin) — informal, associated with northern Germany (Hamburg and the north coast especially), used at any time of day despite sounding like it should mean “morning.” Increasingly used more broadly across Germany as informal slang, though it retains a distinctly northern flavour.
7. Grüß Gott — formal-leaning, regionally associated with southern Germany, Austria and parts of Switzerland, literally “greet God.” Sounds unusual or overly formal in northern Germany, where it’s rarely used.
8. Hi / Hey — borrowed directly from English, extremely common among younger people and in casual settings, functioning identically to English “hi” or “hey.”
9. Na? — very informal, roughly equivalent to “hey, what’s up,” used almost exclusively between people who already know each other well.
10. Grüezi — Swiss German specifically, the standard everyday greeting in Switzerland, distinct from both northern and southern German conventions.
11. Tach — a casual, contracted form of Guten Tag, common in casual everyday speech particularly in western and central Germany.
12. Willkommen — not a greeting on its own but “welcome,” used when receiving someone rather than initiating contact — Willkommen in Berlin!
How to respond when someone greets you
The instinctive response to most of these is simply to repeat the same greeting back — if someone says Guten Tag, responding Guten Tag is completely natural and sufficient. This differs from English, where varying your response (someone says “hi,” you might say “hey” back) is more common; German greeting exchanges lean more toward direct mirroring.
What follows a greeting: “Wie geht’s?”
Almost immediately after a greeting, especially among people who know each other, comes “Wie geht’s?” (How’s it going?) or the more formal “Wie geht es Ihnen?” The expected response is brief and positive by default — “Gut, danke, und dir/Ihnen?“ — genuinely detailed answers about how you’re actually doing are reserved for close friends and specific contexts, not a casual greeting exchange, similar to how English “how are you” functions as a greeting more than a genuine question in most everyday contexts.
Getting comfortable with these small, constant exchanges is exactly the kind of practice that builds real confidence fastest, since you’ll use them dozens of times a day. SipLingo runs real voice conversations built around everyday situations like these, with corrections in your own language. Try it free →
Formality: du vs Sie, and how it affects your greeting choice
Beyond the greeting word itself, whether you follow up with du (informal you) or Sie (formal you) matters as much as the greeting itself. Guten Tag pairs naturally with Sie; Hallo and Hi pair more naturally with du, though Hallo can work in either register depending on context. When genuinely unsure, defaulting to the more formal option and waiting to be invited to switch to du is the safer social choice — nobody has ever been offended by excessive politeness in a first interaction.
Practise your German out loud with SipLingo, free to try on iPhone and Android:
Saying goodbye: the other half of the exchange
Common goodbyes worth knowing alongside greetings: Tschüss (informal, extremely common), Auf Wiedersehen (formal), Bis bald (see you soon), Ciao (borrowed from Italian, casual and common especially among younger speakers), and Servus again, which — uniquely among this list — works as both hello and goodbye depending on context.
Greeting people in professional settings specifically
Beyond the general greetings above, workplace culture in Germany tends to favour a brief, direct greeting on arrival — a simple Guten Morgen to the room or to colleagues individually as you pass their desk is standard and expected, more so than in some other cultures where a greeting might be skipped if you’re in a hurry. Skipping this entirely can come across as somewhat abrupt to German colleagues, even if unintentional.
Regional greeting etiquette worth knowing
Beyond the specific words, handshakes remain a more standard part of formal and first-time greetings in Germany than in many English-speaking contexts, even in casual business settings — offering a handshake when meeting someone for the first time, or in a formal context, is a safe default. Among people who already know each other well, a simple verbal greeting without a handshake is completely standard, and the specific physical greeting convention has been loosening somewhat in casual contexts, particularly among younger people.
Official sources
For the official details and the latest updates, see:
- Goethe-Institut: Goethe A1 Start Deutsch 1 word list (PDF) – ~650 A1 words and everyday expressions by topic, with example sentences
Frequently asked questions
What’s the most common way to say hello in German? Hallo is the safest, most universal option across nearly all contexts. Guten Tag is the standard formal alternative, particularly appropriate with strangers or in professional settings.
Is it rude to say Hallo to someone you don’t know well? Not inherently rude, but Guten Tag is generally considered more appropriate in formal or unfamiliar contexts — shops, offices, official appointments — where Hallo can feel slightly too casual, particularly with older generations or in more traditional settings.
Do Germans say “Wie geht’s” the same way English speakers say “how are you”? Similarly, yes — it functions largely as a greeting formality expecting a brief, positive response rather than a genuine detailed check-in, except among close friends where a more honest answer is appropriate.
What greeting should I use if I’m not sure of the formality level? Guten Tag is the safest default when uncertain, since it works appropriately across nearly all contexts without risking sounding too casual, and you can always shift toward Hallo once you’ve gauged the situation.
Build confidence in everyday exchanges like this through real speaking practice. SipLingo runs real conversations with corrections in your own language. A1 to B2.
Download SipLingo
