| Country or Language | Formal | Informal |
| Afrikaans | Môre (morning)
Middag (afternoon) Naand (evening), “d” sounds like “t” Goeiendag, “n” is silent, means “good day” |
Hallo |
| Argentina | Buenos días (morning) Buenas tardes (afternoon)
Buenas noches (evening) |
¡Hola! |
| Chile | Buenos días (morning) Buenas tardes (afternoon)
Buenas noches (evening) |
¡Hola! |
| Croatia
same as Serbian |
Hallo, when answering telephone
Dobar Dan (daytime) Dobro Vece (afternoon/evening) |
Hallo, when answering telephone
Zdravo, when meeting someone |
| Czech
|
Dobry den
Dobry is pronounced with a long “e” at the end |
Ahoj, used when greeting and leaving. Pronounced “ah-hoy”. Very casual, informal. |
| Denmark | Hallo (telephone)
Pronounced “hello” Goddag (in person) |
Hej (hello/have a good day), when meeting someone
Pronounced “hi” |
| Estonia | Tere, both “e”s are pronounced as a short “a”; described as “teh-reh” with a quick rolled r (as in Spanish and Italian) |
Tere, both “e”s are pronounced as a short “a”; described as “teh-reh” with a quick rolled r (as in Spanish and Italian) |
| Finland | Hyvää huomenta (morning)
Hyvää päivää (afternoon) Hyvää iltaa (evening) |
Hei, Finns usually answer the phone with their name and then “hei”
Terve, very informal |
| France
|
Allo, Bonjour …and then the name of the company, your name etc…
Enchanté(e), when meeting someone in person |
Bonjour
Salut, very informal |
| Germany | Gunten Tag
Gruss Got, used in southern regions only |
Hallo |
| Hebrew | Shalom | Shalom |
| Hungary | Jó napot kívánok | Szervusz, pronounced as “servus” – “r” like in Spanish |
| Italy | Pronto, when answering telephone
Buon giorno |
Salve
Ciao, very informal |
| Mexico
|
Buenos días (morning) Buenas tardes (afternoon)
Buenas noches (evening) |
¡Hola! |
| Poland | Dzien’dobry (day)
Dobry wieczór (evening) |
Hi |
| Portugal | Está, when answering telephone
Como está?, when meeting someone
|
Olá |
| Romania | Va¨ salut, used formally towards men, all times of day
Sa¨rut mâinile, used formally towards women Buna¨ seara, used in evening (both formal and informal) |
Buna¨ ziua, used during the day and into early evening
Buna¨ seara, used in evening (both formal and informal) |
| Russia | Zdrastvuiete, when meeting someone
1) Slushaiu 2) Allo 1-2, when answering telephone, in order of formality (most formal > least formal). |
Privet, very informal when meeting someone
Da, very informal when answering telephone |
| Serbia
same as Croatian |
Hallo, when answering telephone
Dobar Dan (daytime) Dobro Vece (afternoon/evening) |
Hallo, when answering telephone
Zdravo, when meeting someone |
| Spain | Buenos días (morning) Buenos tardas (afternoon)
Buenos noches (evening) Dígame, when answering telephone |
¡Hola! |
| Sweden | Hej | Hej |
| Turkey
|
Merhaba | Merhaba
Selam Selamlar (plural) |
| Xhosa
Native speakers unavailable. Information provided is based on resource reference material. |
Molo
Molweni (plural) |
Iwu, used to attract attention
Hewu, used to attract attention |
| Zulu
Native speakers unavailable. Information provided is based on resource reference material. |
Halo | Halo |
How are we doing? Click on the image above to take our Customer Satisfaction Survey and receive a 10% discount off of our translation services on your next project.
Learn about our Zoom™ Virtual Language Interpretation services for your meetings and/or webinars!
Find us in the Yellow Pages in your city or town under Translators & Interpreters.