Phrases |
'Useful' phrases |
Idioms |
Tongue twisters |
Language-related proverbs
These are phrases you use when you greet people in the evening. Exactly when you use these phrases varies from country to country. In some languages, Spanish for example, the same words are used for afternoon and evening.
| Language | Phrase |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | Goeienaand |
| Albanian | Mirëmbrëma |
| Alsatian | Güete Obe |
| Amharic | አንደምን አመሹ (əndämn amäshu) [how did you spend the evening?] |
| Arabic (Egyptian) | (misa' il kẖayr)
مساء الخير response - (misa' in noor) مساء النّور |
| Arabic (Modern Standard) | (masā'ul kẖayr) مساء الخير |
| Arabic (Moroccan) | (mselkẖīr) مساء الخير |
| Aragonese | Buena nuei |
| Armenian (Eastern) | Բարի' երեկո: (Bari yereko) |
| Azerbaijani | Axşamınız xeyir |
| Basque | Arratsalde on |
| Belarusian | Добры вечар (Dobry vechar) |
| Bengali | শুভ সন্ধ্যা। (shubho shondha) |
| Bosnian | Dobro veče / Akšem Hajrula |
| Breton | Nozvezh vat |
| Bulgarian | Добър вечер (Dobãr večer) |
| Catalan | Bona nit |
| Chamorro | Buenas noches |
| Chechen | суьйре дика хуьлда хьан |
| Chinese (Cantonese) | 晚安 (máahn ón) 晚上好 (máahnseuhng hóu) |
| Chinese (Mandarin) | 晚安 (wǎnān) 晚上好 (wǎnshànghǎo) |
| Chinese (Taiwanese) | 晚安 (buan2-an) |
| Cimbrian | Guuten aabend |
| Cornish | Gorthugher da, Gothewhar vaze |
| Croatian | Dobra večer |
| Czech | Dobrý večer |
| Dalecarian | Góð kveld |
| Danish | God aften |
| Dutch | Goedenavond / Goeienavond |
| Esperanto | Bonan vesperon |
| Estonian | Tere õhtust |
| Faroese | Gott kvøld |
| Finnish | Hyvää iltaa |
| French | Bonsoir |
| Frisian (West) | Goejûn |
| Friulian | Buinesere |
| Georgian | საღამო მშვიდობისა (saghamo mshvidobisa) |
| German | Guten Abend |
| Greek | Καλησπέρα (kalispéra) - when you arrive Καλό βράδυ (kaló vrádi) - when you leave |
| Greenlandic | Inuugujaq |
| Haitian Creole | Bonswa |
| Hawaiian | Aloha ahiahi |
| Hebrew | (erev tov) ערב טוב |
| Hindi | नमस्ते (Namaste) |
| Hungarian | Jó estét (kívánok) |
| Icelandic | Góða kvöldið |
| Ilocano | Naimbag a rabii |
| Indonesian | Selamat sore |
| Inuktitut | ᐅᓐᓄᓴᒃᑯᑦ (Unnuhatkut/Unnusakkut) |
| Iñupiaq | Unnusatkun |
| Irish (Gaelic) | Tráthnóna maith (duit/daibh) |
| Italian | Buona sera |
| Japanese | 今晩は (konbanwa) |
| Jèrriais | Bônsouair |
| Kashubian | Dobri wieczór |
| Kazakh | Қайырлы жаріқ (Qayırlı zhariq) |
| Korean | 안녕하십니까 (annyeonghashimnikka) |
| Ladino | (Buenas tardes) בואינאס טארדיס |
| Latin | Bonum Vesper! |
| Latvian | Labvakar |
| Limburgish | Gojenaovend |
| Lithuanian | Labas vakaras |
| Luxembourgish | Gudden Owend |
| Macedonian | Добра вечер (Dobra vecher) |
| Malay | Selamat malam |
| Maltese | Bonswa / Il-Lejla it-tajba |
| Manx | Fastyr mie |
| Māori | Kia ora |
| Mauritian Creole | Bonswar |
| Mongolian | Оройн мэнд (Oroin mend) |
| Nepali | शुभ सन्ध्या (subha sandhya) |
| Norwegian | God kveld |
| Occitan | Bonser |
| Papiamentu | Bon nochi |
| Persian | (asr bekheir) عصر بخير |
| Polish | Dobry wieczór Dobrego wieczoru (used when leaving) |
| Portuguese | Boa tarde
|
| Romanian | Bună seara |
| Russian | Добрый вечер (Dobryj večer) |
| Sardinian | Bonas tardas |
| Scots | Guid forenicht, Guid eenin |
| Scottish Gaelic | Feasgar math |
| Serbian | Добро вече (Dobro veče) |
| Sesotho | Fonane (to one person) Fonaneng (to more than one person) |
| Sicilian | Bona sira |
| Shona | Manheru |
| Slovak | Dobrý večer |
| Slovenian | Dober večer |
| Sorbian | Dobry wjechor |
| Spanish | Buenas tardes / Buenas noches |
| Stellingwarfs | Goeienaovend |
| Swahili | Habari ya jioni |
| Swedish | God kväll |
| Tagalog | Magandang gabi po (frm) Magandang gabi (inf) |
| Thai | สวัสดีครับ/ค่ะ (sawùt dee krúp/kâ) |
| Tok Pisin | Apinum / Gut nait |
| Tongan | Malo tau ma'u e efiafi ni |
| Turkish | İyi akşamlar |
| Ukrainian | Доброго вечора (Dobroho večora) |
| Urdu | (roz bākhair) روز بخير |
| Uzbek | Hayirli kech |
| Venda | Ri perile |
| Vietnamese | Chào buổi tối |
| Welsh | Noswaith dda |
| Xhosa | Ubusuku obuhle |
| Yappese | Fal'e baleyal |
| Yiddish | (A gut ovnt) א גוט אָוונט |
| Yorùbá | Ẹ ku alẹ |
If you would like to make any corrections or additions to this page, please
contact me. If you can provide audio recordings
of any of these phrases, please send them to
You can send me audio files in any format. If you don't know how to make recordings on a computer, you can send me recordings on audio cassette. Let me know if you want to do this and I'll send you my snailmail address. Or you can call me on Skype (omniglot) and I'll do the recording.
Useful phrases in various European languages
http://www.geocities.com/mailjohan/
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