Sometimes, a simple “hello” is all it takes to start a conversation. Of course, you’ll need a little more to talk shop at work or debate politics, but as any world traveller knows, a friendly hello can go a long way.
According to SIL International’s Ethnologue, there are as many as 7,111 languages spoken in the world today.
Roughly 40% of those languages are endangered, with less than 1000 speakers remaining. Meanwhile, just 23 languages account for half of the world’s primary spoken languages.
Today, we’ll be looking at how to say hello in 50 of the most spoken languages in the world.
For the purposes of this list, though there are diasporic communities worldwide speaking many different languages, “spoken in” broadly refers to countries where the language is an official or national language, where it is spoken by the majority of the population, or where the majority of speakers of the language live. “Spoken by” refers to the number of first language speakers as of most recent data.
Spoken in: Ethiopia
Spoken by: 21.9 million
Say hello: Tena yistilign (formal), Selam (informal)
Spoken in: Algeria, Sudan, Iraq, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Syria, Tunisia, Somalia, Chad, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Eritrea, Libya, Lebanon, Palestine, Oman, Mauritania, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Tanzania (Zanzibar), Djibouti, Comoros
Spoken by: 420 million, across roughly 30 different dialects
Say hello: Marhabaan (formal) or Ahlan (informal)
Spoken in: Azerbaijan, Russia
Spoken by: 13.8 million
Say hello: Salam
Spoken in: Bangladesh, India
Spoken by: 228 million
Say hello: নমস্কার Namaskar (for Hindus), আসসালামু আলাইকুম Asalaam alaikum (for Muslims), হ্যালো Hello or হাই Hi (informal)
Spoken in: Myanmar
Spoken by: 32.9 million
Say hello: မင်္ဂလာပါ Mingalarba
Spoken in: China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and Singapore
Spoken by: 1,117 million
Say hello: 你好 (nǐ hǎo)
Spoken in: Czech Republic
Spoken by: 10.7 million
Say hello: Dobrý den (formal), Ahoj (informal)
Spoken in: Belgium, The Netherlands, Suriname
Spoken by: 23.1 million
Say hello: Hoi (hi), Hallo (hello)
Spoken in: Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Cook Islands, Dominica, Fiji, Ghana, Grenada, Guyana, Hong Kong, Ireland, Jamaica, Kenya, Liberia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Sierra Leone, Trinidad and Tobago, The United Kingdom, The United States of America
Spoken by: 379 million
Say hello: Hello (formal), Hi (informal), What’s up? (very informal)
Spoken in: Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Canada, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Djibouti, DR Congo, Equatorial Guinea, France, Gabon, Guinea, Haiti, Ivory Coast, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Mali, Monaco, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Switzerland, Togo, Vanuatu
Spoken by: 77.2 million
Say hello: Bonjour (formal), Salut (informal)
Learn more: French Greetings: 22 Must-Know Ways to Say Hello & Goodbye
Spoken in: Austria, Belgium, Germany, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Switzerland
Spoken by: 132 million
Say hello: Guten Tag (formal), Hallo (informal) – as with most other languages, the list of German greetings is endless!
Spoken in: Greece, Cyprus
Spoken by: 13.1 million
Say hello: Γεια σας Yasass (formal – plural), Γεια σου Yassou (informal – singular)
Spoken in: Niger, Nigeria, Ghana
Spoken by: 43.9 million
Say hello: Salama alaikum (formal), Sannu (informal)
Spoken in: India
Spoken by: 341 million
Say hello: Namaste
Spoken in: Hungary, Vojvodina (Serbia)
Spoken by: 12.6 million
Say hello: Jó napot (formal), Szia (informal) or Sziasztok (informal plural)
Spoken in: Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea
Spoken by: 27 million
Say hello: Ndeewo (formal), Kedu (informal)
Spoken in: Italy, San Marino, Switzerland, Vatican City
Spoken by: 64.8 million
Say hello: Buongiorno (Good day), Salve (formal), Ciao (informal)
Spoken in: Japan, Palau
Spoken by: 128 million
Say hello: こんにちは “Konnichiwa”
Learn more: 18 Ways to Say Hello in Japanese Like a Native Speaker
Spoken in: India
Spoken by: 43.6 million
Say hello: Namaste, Namaskara
Spoken in: Kazakhstan, Russia, People’s Republic of China
Spoken by: 12.9 million
Say hello: Сәлеметсіз бе Sälemetsiz be (formal), Сәлем Sälem (informal)
Spoken in: Rwanda, Burundi
Spoken by: 12.1 million
Say hello: Salama (peace), Muraho (formal)
Spoken in: South Korea, North Korea, People’s Republic of China
Spoken by: 77.3 million
Say hello: 안녕하세요 Annyeonghaseyo (formal), 안녕 Annyeong (informal)
Spoken in: Kurdistan Region (Iraq), Rojava (Syria)
Spoken by: 14.6 million
Say hello: Merheba, Silav
Spoken in: Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore
Spoken by: 77 million
Say hello: Selamat (shortened version of time-of-day greetings), Halo (neutral), Hai (informal)
Spoken in: India
Spoken by: 37.1 million
Say hello: Hello (formal), Hai (informal), Namaskaram (general greeting)
Spoken in: People’s Republic of China, Taiwan, Singapore, Myanmar
Spoken by: 918 million
Say hello: 你好 Nǐ hǎo
Spoken in: Nepal, India
Spoken by: 15.8 million
Say hello: Namaste
Spoken in: Nigeria, minority language across 20 countries in West and Central Africa
Spoken by: 14.5 million
Say hello: Salaamu Aleykum (formal), Sannu or Sannuko (informal)
Spoken in: Afghanistan, Pakistan
Spoken by: 20.9 million
Say hello: السلام عليکم “Aslam o alekum” (peace be upon you), حالله “hallo” (informal)
Spoken in: Iran
Spoken by: 52.8 million
Say hello: Salâm (Arabic origin), Dorud (Persian origin)
Spoken in: Poland
Spoken by: 39.7 million
Say hello: Dzień dobry (Good day), Cześć (informal)
Spoken in: Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, East Timor, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal, São Tomé, Príncipe
Spoken by: 221 million
Say hello: Bom dia (Good day), Olá (hello), Oi (hi)
Spoken in: India
Spoken by: 125.3 million
Say hello: Sat sri akal ji (formal), Sat sri akal (informal)
Spoken in: Romania, Moldova, Vojvodina (Serbia)
Spoken by: 24.3 million
Say hello: Salut
Spoken in: Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine, Moldova, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan
Spoken by: 154 million
Say hello: Здравствуйте “Zdravstvuyte” (formal), Привет “Privet” (hello), Здорово “Zdarova” (hi)
Spoken in: Sri Lanka
Spoken by: 15.3 million
Say hello: ආයුබෝවන් Ayubovan (formal), හලෝ Halo (informal)
Spoken in: Mexico, Colombia, Spain, Argentina, Peru, Venezuela, Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, Cuba, Bolivia, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Paraguay, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Uruguay, Equatorial Guinea
Spoken by: 480 million
Say hello: Hola
Learn more: Spanish greetings 101: Useful phrases and examples
Spoken in: Philippines
Spoken by: 23.6 million
Say hello: Kumusta
Spoken in: Sri Lanka, Singapore, India
Spoken by: 75 million
Say hello: Vaṇakkam
Spoken in: India
Spoken by: 82 million
Say hello: Namaskaram
Spoken in: Thailand
Spoken by: 20.7 million
Say hello: Sawatdee ka or Sawatdee krap – the ká ending is used by female speakers, krap by males. Sawatdee on its own is “hello” and the ending makes it polite, but you’ll rarely hear it used without the polite ending in Thailand.
Spoken in: Turkey, Northern Cyprus, Cyprus
Spoken by: 79.4 million
Say hello: Merhaba (formal), Selam (informal)
Spoken in: Ukraine
Spoken by: 27.3 million
Say hello: Dobriy den (formal), Pryvit (informal)
Spoken in: Pakistan, India
Spoken by: 68.6 million
Say hello: Assalam u alaikum (formal), Salam (informal)
Spoken in: Uzbekistan
Spoken by: 25.1 million
Say hello: Assalomu alaykum (formal), Salom (informal)
Spoken in: Vietnam
Spoken by: 76 million
Say hello: Xin chào
Spoken in: City of Shanghai and surrounding provinces (China)
Spoken by: 81.4 million
Say hello: 侬好 “Nóng hō”
Spoken in: Nigeria, Benin, Togo
Spoken by: 37.8 million
Say hello: Ayọ
Spoken in: Hong Kong, Macau
Spoken by: 73.1 million
Say hello: Néih hóu
Spoken in: South Africa
Spoken by: 12.1 million
Say hello: Sawubona
And there you have it! Now you can say hi in 50 different languages.
Saying hello, whether it’s in Polish, Arabic, French, or Korean, is a wonderful way to connect, even when you don’t speak the language.
But, for an even deeper connection, you might want to learn a few more phrases. There are so many amazing benefits to learning a language!
If you’re ready to start learning a new language today, click below to get started with Busuu.
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Join our community and start speaking a language in 10 minutes a day!
