German Greetings: What to Actually Say (And When)

So you want to say hello in German. You've probably already learned Guten Tag from some app or phrasebook. Great. But here's the thing—if you walk into a bakery in Hamburg and say Guten Tag, you'll sound like a textbook. Everyone else is saying Moin.

And if you visit Bavaria and greet someone with Moin? They'll know immediately you're not from around there.

German greetings aren't just vocabulary. They're cultural markers. The greeting you choose tells people where you're from, how formal you want to be, and whether you actually understand German culture or just memorized some phrases.

Let me break down what you actually need to know.

The Sie/Du Thing (This Matters More Than You Think)

Before we get into specific greetings, you need to understand the formal/informal divide in German. This isn't like English where you can basically say "hey" to anyone.

German has two words for "you":

The greeting you choose has to match. You can't say Hi to someone you're addressing as Sie. It's jarring—like calling your boss "dude" while asking for a raise.

When in doubt? Use Sie. It's better to be too formal than too casual. Germans will tell you when it's okay to switch to du (often with the phrase "Wir können uns duzen"—"We can use du with each other").

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The Standard Greetings Everyone Learns

These are the safe, universally understood greetings:

Time-based greetings:

The catch with Gute Nacht: Unlike in some languages, Gute Nacht (Good night) is only used when someone's going to bed. It's not a greeting—it's a farewell. Saying it when you arrive somewhere makes zero sense.

Neutral greetings:

Germans also shorten things constantly. You'll hear just Morgen instead of Guten Morgen, or just Tag instead of Guten Tag. Efficiency is kind of their thing.

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Regional Greetings (Where It Gets Interesting)

Here's where German greetings get fun. Different regions have their own ways of saying hello, and using them correctly shows you actually understand the culture.

Northern Germany: Moin

Moin (or Moin moin) is the standard greeting in Hamburg, Bremen, Schleswig-Holstein, and most of northern Germany.

Here's what trips people up: Moin has nothing to do with "morning." It comes from Middle Low German meaning "good" or "pleasant." You can say it at any time—morning, afternoon, midnight, doesn't matter.

There's even an old joke about northern Germans being famously reserved: One guy says "Moin!" Another replies "Moin moin!" First guy responds: "Chatterbox."

If you're watching German shows set in Hamburg or northern Germany, you'll hear Moin constantly. It's the default.

Southern Germany & Austria: Grüß Gott

Down south, Grüß Gott (literally "May God greet you") is the standard. Before you think this makes everyone super religious—it doesn't. It's just the regional way to say hello, and even hardcore atheists use it.

One interesting cultural note: in Austria specifically, there's apparently a political dimension to this. Using Grüß Gott can signal conservative leanings, while more left-leaning Austrians tend to stick with Guten Tag. I wouldn't overthink this as a learner, but it's a fun piece of cultural trivia.

Bavaria & Austria: Servus

Servus comes from Latin meaning "servant" (as in "at your service"). It works as both hello AND goodbye, which is convenient. You'll hear it throughout Bavaria and Austria, often among people who know each other.

Switzerland: Grüezi

The Swiss have Grüezi, which works in both formal and informal contexts. Swiss German is its own beast, honestly—but Grüezi will serve you well in the German-speaking parts of Switzerland.

The Fun One: Habidere

In parts of Austria, you might hear Habidere—a shortened version of Ich habe die Ehre ("I have the honor"). Some people even shorten it further to just D'Ehre. It's charmingly old-fashioned and mostly used by older generations.

Na? (The Two-Letter Greeting That Confuses Everyone)

Na deserves its own section because it's weird and wonderful.

It's basically the German equivalent of "hey, what's up?" but condensed into two letters. Germans will literally just say Na? to each other as a complete greeting, and the response is often... Na? right back.

You can extend it to Na, wie geht's? (Hey, how's it going?) or Na du? (Hey you?), but honestly, just Na? works fine between friends.

It can also mean other things depending on context—Na gut (oh well, fine), Na ja (well...), Na und? (so what?)—but as a greeting, it's pure casual acknowledgment.

Mahlzeit (The Lunch Greeting)

This one's workplace-specific. Mahlzeit literally means "mealtime" and it's what Germans say to each other around lunch. You'll hear it in offices, on construction sites, basically anywhere people are heading to or from their lunch break.

The response? Just Mahlzeit back. Or Danke.

It comes from the longer Gesegnete Mahlzeit ("Blessed mealtime"), but nobody says the full thing anymore. It's oddly specific, but once you're working or studying in a German-speaking environment, you'll use it constantly.

"How Are You?" — Don't Overdo It

Unlike English where "How are you?" is basically just an extended hello, Germans treat Wie geht es Ihnen? (formal) or Wie geht's? (informal) as an actual question.

If you ask, be prepared for an actual answer. Germans tend to respond honestly and briefly—not the automatic "Fine, thanks!" you'd get in English.

Other casual versions:

Goodbyes

Quick rundown:

Formal:

Informal:

Physical Greetings: Handshakes, Hugs, Kisses

Germans are big on handshakes. Firm, confident, not too long. This applies even in somewhat casual situations where Americans might just wave.

Hugs and cheek kisses? Reserved for people you actually know well—family, close friends. And it varies by region: in Germany proper, a one-armed half-hug is common among friends. In Austria, two cheek kisses are more standard.

The safest approach: let the German person initiate physical contact beyond a handshake. Follow their lead.

Answering the Phone

Germans often answer with just Ja? or Hallo?—but there's also a tradition of stating your name when answering calls from unknown numbers. You might hear something like:

If you're answering at a business, you'd say the company name, your name, and a greeting.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

A few things that'll out you as a clueless foreigner:

Actually Learning These

Look, you can memorize this list and that's fine for basic survival. But if you want these greetings to actually stick—and if you want to understand when native speakers use them naturally—you need to hear them in context.

German shows, movies, and YouTube content are goldmines for this. Pay attention to how characters greet each other based on their relationship, the setting, and the region. A cop drama set in Hamburg will sound different from a Bavarian comedy.

If you're serious about learning German and want to build vocabulary from real content, that's exactly what Migaku helps with. The browser extension lets you look up words instantly while watching German shows on Netflix or YouTube, and you can turn any dialogue into flashcards. It's way more effective than memorizing phrase lists—and you'll pick up regional variations naturally.

For more on informal German beyond greetings, check out our guides on German slang and German swear words (because let's be honest, you're curious). And if you want to see what serious vocabulary acquisition looks like, read about how Noah learned 34,000 German words using immersion.

Anyway, if you want to learn German from actual content instead of sterile textbook dialogues, Migaku's browser extension makes it stupid easy. Watch a German show, click on words you don't know, and build flashcards from real sentences. You'll hear Moin and Grüß Gott and Tschüss in their natural habitat instead of trying to remember which one goes where from a list.

There's a 10-day free trial if you want to try it out. No credit card required, no commitment—just see if learning from real German content clicks for you.