Are you planning a trip to Germany, connecting with German-speaking friends, or simply expanding your linguistic vocabulary? In any case, knowing your way around basic greetings, like how to say ‘goodbye’ in German, is a must as it leads to smoother interactions with the locals.
In this blog post, you will get familiar with these expressions and will feel more confident in starting and ending conversations. To practise your pronunciation, don’t forget to press play on the audio file.
Auf geht’s!
How to say ‘hello’ in German
Before learning how to say ‘goodbye’ in German, you must first know how to start a conversation. As with any language, there are formal and casual greetings.
To say a casual ‘hello’ in German, you can simply say hallo. However, you can also use:
- Guten Tag Good day (used throughout the day in formal settings);
- Guten Morgen Good morning (typically used until late morning);
- Guten Abend Good evening (used from late afternoon into the evening).
It is important to consider that different regions have different greetings. In Austria and Bavaria, they can say Servus or Moin in the northern part of Germany.
How to say ‘goodbye’ in German
Now, let’s answer the question of how to say ‘goodbye’ in German. Similar to greetings, saying ‘goodbye’ in German varies by formality and context.
Here are common ways to say farewell:
- Auf Wiedersehen Goodbye (formal, indicating ‘until we see each other again’);
- Tschüss Bye (casual and widely used among friends);
- Bis später See you later (used when parting with the expectation of seeing each other again the same day);
- Bis morgen Until tomorrow.
How can you ask and answer ‘how are you’ in German
The easiest and most common way to ask someone ‘how are you’ in German is using ‘Wie geht’s?’. If you want to ask that question in a more formal context, you can say ‘Wie geht es Ihnen?’.
To reply to this question, there are different answers you can say:
- Mir geht’s gut. I’m good.
- Mir geht’s sehr gut. I’m (feeling) very well.
- Mir geht’s schlecht. I’m feeling bad.
- Mir geht’s nicht so gut. I’m not (feeling) so good.
- Mir geht’s wunderbar. I’m feeling great.
- Mir geht’s ausgezeichnet. I’m feeling fantastic, extraordinary.
Well, now you know how to say ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’ in German! Moreover, you are prepared to ask and reply if someone asks you how you are doing. With some basic knowledge like this, you can easily make your travel experience much better by connecting with the locals.
Keep learning useful terms and sentences: check out our article on how to introduce yourself in German!
