Hallo is a useful general German greeting; Guten Morgen, Guten Tag and Guten Abend suit different times of day. Gute Nacht is normally a farewell before sleep, not a greeting on arrival. Match the level of formality to the situation, and learn replies as well as opening lines so the exchange can continue.
Published 1 August 2026 · Updated 13 October 2026
By Gora Academy · Editorial policy
A greeting is easy to memorise and surprisingly easy to misuse. The useful question is not just what Guten Abend means, but when to say it and what happens after someone says it to you.
| German | Meaning | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| Hallo! | Hello! | A broadly useful greeting, particularly in informal exchanges. |
| Guten Morgen! | Good morning! | Morning arrival. |
| Guten Tag! | Good day! / Hello! | A more formal daytime greeting. |
| Guten Abend! | Good evening! | Evening arrival. |
| Gute Nacht! | Good night! | Leaving before sleep, rather than entering a room. |
| Tschüss! | Bye! | An informal goodbye. |
| Auf Wiedersehen! | Goodbye! | A more formal farewell. |
You can usually return the same greeting: Guten Morgen! — Guten Morgen! No extra grammatical transformation is required. German occasionally lets you have a small victory.
Du addresses one person informally; capitalised Sie is formal you for one or more people. The verb changes with the choice. Wie heißt du? asks someone’s name informally; Wie heißen Sie? asks formally. Both can receive Ich heiße Alex — My name is Alex.
There is no single age cutoff or national rule that settles every encounter. Context, workplace practice and the other person’s wording matter. Start formally in an unfamiliar formal setting and listen for an invitation to use du.
Wie geht’s? is How’s it going? A simple reply is Gut, danke. Und dir? — Good, thanks. And you? In a formal exchange: Wie geht es Ihnen? — Gut, danke. Und Ihnen? The reply uses dative forms dir and Ihnen; learn the whole phrase first.
For a less cheerful but perfectly ordinary answer, use Es geht — So-so — or Ganz gut — Quite good. You need not produce a detailed life report every time, but neither should you assume the question is always empty politeness.
A: Guten Tag. Ich heiße Alex. Wie heißen Sie?
B: Ich heiße Maria. Freut mich.
A: Freut mich auch.
A says hello, introduces themselves and asks B’s name. B answers and says Pleased to meet you. A replies Likewise. Practise both parts, then change the names.
Grüß Gott is common in Austria and parts of southern Germany. Servus is an informal regional greeting or farewell. Grüezi is associated with German-speaking Switzerland. Recognise them without replacing every greeting in your standard-German practice with a regional form.
Test yourself: which line suits arriving at an evening event, Guten Abend or Gute Nacht? Use Guten Abend. Save Gute Nacht for the appropriate goodbye.