Knowing how to say hello constitutes one of the first steps to learning a foreign language. Although saying hello doesn’t seem that difficult, the number of phrases you could use to start a conversation might be overwhelming. But fear not! In this article, you’ll learn various ways to say hello in different languages. You’ll learn everything from greetings for different times of the day, to informal greetings, to greetings for specific situations.

How to say hello in different languages.

Hello In Different Languages

Here’s a list of how to say hello in different languages:

  • English: Hello
  • Chinese: 你好
  • French: Bonjour
  • German: Hallo
  • Italian: Salve
  • Japanese: こんにちは
  • Korean: 안녕하세요
  • Portuguese: Olá
  • Spanish: Hola

Of course, this article could end here, but if you want to learn more variations, read on!

Informal Greetings

English

  • Hi.
  • Hey.
  • Hey there.
  • Yo.

Chinese

  • 哈喽 (Hello)
  • 哈罗 (Hello)
  • 嗨 (Hi)
  • 嘿 (Hey)

French

  • Coucou (Hey)
  • Salut (Hi)
  • Salut toi (Hey there)

German

  • Hi (Hi)
  • Hey (Hey)

Italian

  • Ciao (Hello/goodbye)
  • Buondì (Good day)

Japanese

  • やあ!(Hi!)
  • ヤッホ!(Yoohoo!)
  • おす!(Hey!)
  • よぉ! (Yo!)

Korean

  • 안녕 (Hi)
  • 야! (Yo!)

Portuguese

  • Oi! (Hi!)
  • Boas (Hey)

Spanish

  • ¡Oye! (Hey!)
  • Hey (Hey)
  • Hola, mi amor (Hi, my love)
  • ¡Hola, hola! (Hi, there!)

Nice to Meet You

English

  • Nice to meet you
  • Nice meeting you
  • It’s a pleasure to meet you
  • Pleased to meet you
  • It’s an honor to meet you

Chinese

  • 幸会 (Pleased to meet you)
  • 久仰 (It’s an honor to finally meet you)
  • 幸会 (Pleased to meet you)
  • 很高兴认识你 (I’m very happy to meet you)
  • 很高兴见到你 (Nice to meet you)

French

  • Je suis très heureux(/euse) de faire votre connaissance (I’m pleased to meet you)
  • Très heureux (Nice to meet you)
  • Enchanté(e) de faire votre connaissance (Pleasure to meet you)
  • Enchanté(e) (It’s a pleasure)

German

  • Es ist schön, Sie kennenzulernen (Nice to meet you)
  • Freut mich (Nice to meet you)
  • Sehr erfreut (Nice to meet you)

Italian

  • Piacere di conoscerti (It’s a pleasure to meet you)
  • Che piacere vederti! (It’s nice to see you!)
  • Felice di vederti (I’m happy to see you)

Japanese

  • 初めまして (Nice to meet you)
  • お会いできてうれしいです (I’m happy to meet you)
  • お会いできて光栄です (It’s an honor to meet you)
  • お目にかかて光栄です (Pleased to meet you)

Korean

  • 만나서 반갑습니다 (Nice to meet you)
  • 만나서 반가워요 (Nice to meet you)
  • 만나서 반가워 (Nice to meet you)
  • 만나서 반갑습니다 (It’s a pleasure to meet you)
  • 만나서 반가워요 (It’s a pleasure to meet you)

Portuguese

  • Prazer (Nice to meet you)
  • Muito prazer (Nice to meet you)
  • Prazer em conhecer-te (Nice to meet you)
  • Prazer em conhecê-lo/la (Nice to meet you)

Spanish

  • Mucho gusto (Nice to meet you)
  • Hola, un placer (Hello, it’s a pleasure (to meet you))
  • Encantado/a (Delighted (to meet you))
  • Hola, un gusto de verlo/a (Hello, it’s a pleasure (seeing you))

How Are You?

English

  • How are you?
  • How’s it going?
  • What’s up?
  • How have you been?
  • How are you doing?

Chinese

  • 你好吗? (How are you?)
  • 您好吗?(How are you?)
  • 你怎么样?(How are you?)

French

  • Comment vas-tu ? (How are you?)
  • Comment ça va ? (How’s it going?)
  • Vous allez bien ? (Are you well?)
  • Ça va ? (How’s it going?)
  • Comment allez-vous ? (How are you (all)?)

German

  • Wie geht’s? (How are you?)
  • Wie geht es dir heute? (How are you doing today?)
  • Was geht ab? (What’s up?)

Italian

  • Come sta? (How are you?)
  • Come stai? (How are you?)
  • Come va? (How’s it going?)

Japanese

  • お元気ですか? (How are you?)
  • 元気? (How are you?)
  • いかがお過ごしですか? (How are you doing?)
  • どうよ?(How’s it going?)

Korean

  • 잘 지내세요? (How are you?)
  • 어떻게 지내세요? (How are you?)
  • 무슨 일이야? (What’s up?)

Portuguese

  • E aí? (What’s up?)
  • Como é que é? (How is it?)
  • Beleza? (What’s going on in your life?)
  • Tudo bem/bom? (Everything well/good?)
  • Como está(s)? (How are you?)

Spanish

  • ¿Cómo estás? (How are you?)
  • ¿Cómo le va? (How have you been?)
  • ¿Qué tal? (How are you?)
  • ¿Qué pasa? (What’s going on?)
  • ¿Qué onda? (What’s up?)

Morning Greetings

  • English: Good morning
  • Chinese: 早上好
  • French: Bonjour
  • German: Guten Morgen
  • Italian: Buongiorno
  • Japanese: おはよう or おはようございます
  • Korean: 좋은아침이에요
  • Portuguese: Bom dia
  • Spanish: Buenos días

Afternoon Greetings

  • English: Good morning
  • Chinese: 下午好
  • French: Bonjour
  • German: Guten Nachmittag or Guten Tag
  • Italian: Buon pomeriggio!
  • Japanese: こんにちは
  • Korean: 안녕하세요
  • Portuguese: Boa tarde
  • Spanish: Buenas tardes

Evening Greetings

  • English: Good morning
  • Chinese: 傍晚好
  • French: Bonsoir
  • German: Guten Abend
  • Italian: Buonasera
  • Japanese: こんばんは
  • Korean: 안녕하세요
  • Portuguese: Boa noite
  • Spanish: Buenas noches

Greetings for Specific Situations

Answering the phone

  • English: Hello?
  • Chinese: 喂?
  • French: Allo?
  • German: (Your name), guten tag
  • Italian: Pronto
  • Japanese: もしもし?
  • Korean: 여보세요?
  • Portuguese: Alô
  • Spanish: ¿Hola?, ¿Aló?, Dígame, ¿Sí?, Bueno, Buenos días/tardes, or Buenas noches

Long Time No See

  • English: Long time no see
  • Chinese: 好久不见
  • French: Ça fait un bail
  • German: Lange nicht gesehen!
  • Italian: Da quanto tempo!
  • Japanese: 久しぶり
  • Korean: 오랜만이네요, 오래간만입니다
  • Portuguese: Quanto tempo
  • Spanish: ¡Qué de tiempo!

How to Memorize Vocabulary Better [Video]

With all of these phrases, you might be wondering “How am I going to memorize them all?”

Don’t worry because in the video below, you’ll learn a useful language learning hack that’ll help you memorize vocabulary.

Take It Further