Hello friends,
best regards to all of you. Let me introduce today some greeting phrases.
First phrase is “Hallo” is same as English “hello” and is obvious for everyone. When you meet your friends in most cases you say “Hallo Markus“, “Hallo Claudia“… In southern Germany and Austria “Servus” is popular as well.
You can also hear “Grüß dich” or “Grüß Gott“ -> the last one is typical for southern Germany and Austria. In Switzerland you may hear simple version “Grüezi“. Obviously it means greetings to you.
In the morning people greet each other with “Guten Morgen“, “Moin” or “Moin moin” -> last form is commonly used in nothern Germany. Morning greetings is generally valid until 10 am, still that’s not specified timeframe. If you greet people a bit later, there will be no problem. Just each region or even small city has its own “fixed” conversational forms. Keep calm and relax.
During the day people say “Guten Tag” (good day), and in the evening “Guten Abend“. Evening starts around 5 pm and lasts until 9 – 10 pm.
When we say goodbye to our family members, friends or acquainted persons before going to bed, an expression “Gute Nacht“, e.g. “good night” fits here well.
Another important aspect of German language is that its formal side is well-developed. When you publically talk to people you don’t know them well, or they are older, have higher position than you or some official event takes place, “Sie” form towards others shows our respect and intelligence. That’s why we say for example “Guten Tag Frau Müller“, “Guten Morgen Herr Fischer“ or “Guten Abend Frau Weber“. Informal form as “du” – you – is valid when talking to your friends, classmates, neighbours etc. By the way, recently I have published corresponding article “Siezen vs. Duzen” on this topic with the practical experience included. Have a short look if interested.
In the written text our respect looks as following “Sehr geehrter Herr Becker” or “Sehr geehrte Frau Schneider” or specifically “Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren“. -> We write to many persons.
Finally, greetings either include opposite point as saying goodbye or farewell. When we have to leave, then we utilize following expressions: “Tschüss“, “Auf Wiedersehen“, “Auf Wiederhören“, “Bis bald” and “Bis später“. “Ciao” sounds too italian, however in Germany it is also valid. In the written texts, especially e-mail conversation, almost each e-mail ends with “Mit freundlichen Grüßen” or shortly MfG. Another expression “Mit herzlichen Grüßen” delivers more “romantic” flavour. We could use it in private mails or letters.
That’s all for today I wanted to share with you, friends. Wish you all the best and Auf Wiedersehen.
Another useful posts:
Learn German with newspapers and magazines
Few German dialogues for practicing
German spelling alphabet with real examples
