Halli hallo - it's Anna, German language expert from Busuu
welcome back to the channel
Let's be real, the truly useful things that we remember forever
are not really the things that we learn in the classroom
So forget 'guten tag' and 'auf wiedersehen'
In this video I'll show you how to say 'hi' and 'bye' in everyday German
But before we get started, make sure that you subscribe to Busuu's YouTube channel
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All right, los geht's, let's get started
with the popular ones
'Hallo' and 'hi
If you're after a greeting that's short and easy to remember
just go with a simple 'hallo'
it works in any context and at any time of the day
if you want to go a bit more casual, 'hi' works just as well
But careful, not all German speaking countries use the greeting in the same way
For example, while your fine to say 'hallo' to your boss in Germany
this greeting is exclusively reserved for friends and family in Switzerland
On to number 2, the one that is the perfect all rounder
'Na?'
This one is perfect if you want to show of to your peers by sounding like a native speaker
Very untypically for German, 'na' doesn't actually mean anything
It's sort of a filler that we use similarly to the English 'well'
to use it as a greeting you just have to nail our pronunciation
you can say it super short like this:
'Na?'
to be a bit friendlier, you can also add a question like:
'Na, wie geht's?'
'Hello, how are you?'
Your friend's been on a date and you want to know how it went?
stretch the 'r' sound out a bit, add a cheeky smile and wiggle your eyebrows
and you might get some quality gossip
'Na?'
When you use 'na' as a greeting, don't expect to get a lengthy response
since this isn't an actual word, people might just greet you back
Number 3, the chilled one
'Alles klar?'
If you're up for a casual chat, this one can be the perfect opener
'Alles klar' literally translates to 'everything clear?'
but it means something along the lines of 'you all right?' 'how's it going?
Number 4: The lively one
'Huhu!'
to get the intonation right, just picture the following scenario
You're on your way home after a long day of work
and you're just about to walk in the door, when your annoying neighbour spots you from across the street
yelling 'huhu!' to get your attention
just imagine that and go in with the high pitch. That's this greeting in a nutshell
But don't worry, it's not always used in a context that makes you want to hide behind your door
it's also a great way of greeting friends that you're really happy to see
Number 5: the one for the cool kids
'Was geht ab?'
If you're lucky enough to end up hanging with the cool kids
you'll definitely hear 'was geht ab?' or 'was geht'
these meetings basically just mean 'what's up?'
and come with a more or less complicated crew handshake
Fair warning
Starting a conversation with 'was geht ab' may sound like you're trying too hard
so don't go to town on this one
especially when you're talking to young people that you don't know
Number 6: the ones they use up north
'Tachchen' and 'moin moin'
Although these greetings are more popular in the north and originated there as well
you'll hear them in other parts of Germany too
'Tach' and 'tachchen' are based on the word 'tag' which means 'day'
and are a friendly, quirky and colloquial way to say 'hi' throughout the day
'Moin', 'moinsen' or 'moin moin' are variations of another cheerful greeting
used particularly in and around Hamburg and Bremmen
Although it might sound like 'moin' comes from the word 'morgen' which means 'morning'
it actually comes from an ancient word meaning 'nice' or 'good'
a fact that you'll definitely be able to show off with even to native speakers
'moin' is slowly making its way down south
and because it reminds of the word 'morgen' or 'morning' it's especially popular as a morning greeting among young people all over Germany
Number 7: the ones representing the south
'servus' and 'grüs got'
'Servus' and 'grüs gott' are the most common greetings in Southern Germany and Austria
if you want to get that extra bit of attention, you should try using them in other areas of Germany too
'Grüss Gott' literally means 'greet God' or 'greetings to God'
so to avoid a religious undertone some people say 'grüss dich' to friends and 'grüss Sie' or 'Grüzei' as a polite form
all of these meetings simply mean 'I greet you'
On to the goodbyes
Number 1: the one that's an oldie but a goody
'Tschüss'
Forget the stiff, long and formal 'Auf Wiedersehen' - 'goodbye'
and replace it with a short and sweet 'Tschüss'
it's much more common, and you can use it at any time of the day in any form of context
You might even hear different variations of 'Tschüss'
like; 'Tschüssi', 'Tschüsschen' or 'Tschüssikowski'
how cute, right?
Add these to your vocab and you'll feel like a local in no time
Number 2: the one with a Mediterranean twist
As if Germans didn't already have enough words
this one's borrowed from Italian
'Ciao' in its 2 different spellings with many variations like 'Tschaui' and 'Tschau-tschau'
is a casual and joyful way to say goodbye
Number 3: the one you use to say 'later skater'
'Bis dann', 'bis denne', 'bis dennchen'
'Bis dann' means 'see you later' and its variations are especially popular with German kids today
'bis denne' or 'bis dennchen' are the slangy, cool versions you can fall back on in a casual conversation with friends
even when you're not a teen
Number 4: the one that keeps it cool
'Hau rein', 'hauste'
'hau rein' or for short 'hauste' literally translates to 'hit into it'
it's a weird one for saying 'goodbye' isn't it?
but what can you do? The young crowds just like to keep things fresh
maybe avoid saying 'hau rein' to your boss though
in fact, maybe don't say it to anyone at all
or you might end up looking like you're desperately trying to sound cool and we all know that never works
so as long as you understand that no one is asking you to actually hit anything when they tell you to 'hau rein', we're good
Saying the first words and having your first chat in a new language can be very scary
having the tools to start a conversation is the first step to getting over it
and to show your interest in the German language
So say 'Tschüss' to your awkward handshakes and 'tachchen' to local lingo
you now know everything you need to know to get a conversation flowing in German
if you've got more German, Austrian or Swiss German greetings, comment below, we'd love to hear from you
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Tschüssi