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Hello in 36 languages
A greeting looks simple until you travel. Some languages greet differently by time of day, some by how formal you want to be, and a few use a question instead of a statement.
| Language | In its own writing | Romanisation |
|---|---|---|
| SpanishLatin | Hola | |
| FrenchLatin | Bonjour | |
| ItalianLatin | Ciao | |
| PortugueseLatin | Olá | |
| RomanianLatin | Bună | |
| GermanLatin | Hallo | |
| DutchLatin | Hallo | |
| SwedishLatin | Hej | |
| Norwegian (Bokmål)Latin | Hei | |
| DanishLatin | Hej | |
| WelshLatin | Helo | |
| PolishLatin | Cześć | |
| CzechLatin | Dobrý den | |
| HungarianLatin | Szia | |
| FinnishLatin | Hei | |
| GreekGreek | Γεια σου | Geia sou |
| TurkishLatin | Merhaba | |
| RussianCyrillic | Здравствуйте | Zdravstvuyte |
| UkrainianCyrillic | Привіт | Pryvit |
| Arabic (Modern Standard)Arabic script | مرحبا | marhaban |
| HebrewHebrew | שלום | shalom |
| Persian (Farsi)Arabic script | سلام | salam |
| HindiDevanagari | नमस्ते | namaste |
| BengaliBengali | হ্যালো | hyalo |
| UrduArabic script | سلام | salaam |
| TamilTamil | வணக்கம் | vanakkam |
| Mandarin Chinese (Simplified)Chinese characters (Simplified) | 你好 | nǐ hǎo |
| JapaneseJapanese (kanji and kana) | こんにちは | konnichiwa |
| KoreanHangul | 안녕하세요 | annyeonghaseyo |
| ThaiThai | สวัสดี | sawatdi |
| VietnameseLatin | Xin chào | |
| IndonesianLatin | Halo | |
| Tagalog (Filipino)Latin | Kumusta | |
| SwahiliLatin | Hujambo | |
| ZuluLatin | Sawubona | |
| AfrikaansLatin | Hallo |
Romanisation is a guide to the sounds. The speaker button appears only when your device has a voice for that language; computer voices may not sound like a native speaker. Phrases are cross-checked against independent sources but still await a native-speaker review.
About "Hello"
The English word hello only became common in the 19th century, as the telephone spread. Before that people said hallo, good day or how do you do. Greetings in other languages often say something more specific: wishing health, peace or a good day.
Using it
If you only learn one phrase before a trip, make it the greeting. A hello in the local language, even badly pronounced, changes the tone of a conversation.
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Questions
How do you say "Hello" in different languages?
There are 36 languages on this page. For example: Hola (Spanish), Bonjour (French), Ciao (Italian), Olá (Portuguese), Bună (Romanian).
Are these translations checked?
Each phrase is written by us and published only when at least two independent sources agree. Native-speaker review is still to come; phrases that could not be confirmed twice are left out.