Useful foreign phrases |
Numbers |
Colours |
Kinship |
Idioms |
Tongue twisters |
Proverbs |
Other multilingual pages
Useful foreign phrases |
Numbers |
Colours |
Kinship |
Idioms |
Tongue twisters |
Proverbs |
Other multilingual pages
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 | Good evening |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | Goeienānd |
| Albanian | Mirëmbrëma |
| Alsatian | Güete Obe / A güata-n-owa / A göte-n-owwe. |
| 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 (Lebanese) |
Masa el khayr |
| Arabic (Modern Standard) |
(masā'ul kẖayr) مساء الخير |
| Arabic (Moroccan) |
(mselkẖīr) مساء الخير |
| Aragonese | Buena nuei |
| Armenian (Eastern) |
Բարի' երեկո: (Bari yereko) |
| Armenian (Western) |
Բարի իրիկուն: (Paree eereegoon) |
| Azeri | 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 |
| Cherokee | ᎣᏍᏓᏑᎮᏰᎡ (Osdasuheyee) |
| Chinese (Cantonese) |
晚安 (máahn ōn) 晚上好 (máahnseuhng hóu) |
| Chinese (Mandarin) |
晚安 (wǎnān) 晚上好 (wǎnshànghǎo) |
| Chinese (Shanghainese) |
夜到好 (yâtohô) |
| Chinese (Taiwanese) |
暗安 (àm-an) / 晚安 (àm-an/bóan-an) |
| Cimbrian | Guuten ābend |
| Cornish | Gorthugher da, Gothewhar vaze |
| Corsican | (À) bona sera |
| Croatian | Dobra večer |
| Czech | Dobrý večer |
| Danish | God aften |
| Dutch | Goedenavond / Goeienavond |
| Elfdalian | Góð kveld |
| Esperanto | Bonan vesperon |
| Estonian | Tere õhtust |
| Faroese | Gott kvøld |
| Fijian | Bula, Ni sa Bula |
| Finnish | Hyvää iltaa |
| French | Bonsoir |
| Frisian (North) | Gudeen |
| Frisian (West) | Goejûn |
| Friulian | Buinesere |
| Galician | Boa tarde / Boas tardes / Bo serán |
| Georgian | საღამო მშვიდობისა (saghamo mshvidobisa) |
| German | Guten Abend |
| German (Bavarian) | Gua̦dnamd |
| Greek (Modern) | Καλησπέρα (kalispéra) - when you arrive Καλό βράδυ (kaló vrádi) - when you leave |
| Greenlandic | Inuugujaq |
| Haitian Creole | Bonswa |
| Hausa | Barka da yamma |
| Hawaiian | Aloha ahiahi |
| Hebrew | (erev tov) ערב טוב |
| Hindi | नमस्ते (namaste) शुभ सन्ध्या (śubh sandhyā) |
| Hungarian | Jó estét (kívánok) |
| Icelandic | Góða kvöldið |
| Iloko | Naimbag a rabii |
| Indonesian | Selamat sore |
| Inuktitut | ᐅᓐᓄᓴᒃᑯᑦ (Unnuhatkut/Unnusakkut) |
| Iñupiaq | Unnusatkun |
| Irish (Gaelic) | Tráthnóna maith (duit/daibh) |
| Italian | Buonasera |
| Japanese | 今晩は / こんばんは (konbanwa) |
| Jèrriais | Bônsouair |
| Kannada | ಶುಭ ಸಾಯಂಕಾಲ (shubha sāyankāla) |
| Kashubian | Dobri wieczór |
| Kazakh | Қайырлы кеш! (Qayrli kesh!) Кеш жарық! (Kesh zharyq!) |
| Khmer | សាយ័ណ្ហសួស្ដី (saayan soou sduii) |
| Kinyarwanda | Mwiriwe neza |
| Korean | 안녕하십니까 (annyeong hashimnikka) |
| 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 |
| Malayalam | ശുഭസന്ധ്യ (śubh sandhya) |
| Maldivian | Bajaveri haveer eh |
| Maltese | Bonswa / Il-Lejla it-tajba |
| Manx (Gaelic) | Fastyr mie |
| Māori | Kia ora |
| Mauritian Creole | Bonswar |
| Mongolian | Оройн мэнд (Oroin mend) |
| Navajo | Yá'át'ééh |
| Nepali | शुभ सन्ध्या (subha sandhya) |
| Norwegian | God kveld |
| Occitan | Bonser |
| Papiamento | Bon nochi |
| Pashto | (maakhaam mo pa kheyr) ماښام مو په خير (khah maakhaam) ماشام شه |
| Persian (Farsi) | (asr bekheir) عصر بخير |
| Polish | Dobry wieczór /
Miłego wieczoru Dobrego wieczoru (used when leaving) - rarely used |
| Portuguese | Boa tarde
|
| Quechua | Wuynas nuchis |
| Romanian | Bună seara |
| Romansh | Buna sera / Buna saira |
| Russian | Добрый вечер! (Dobryj večer!) |
| Samoan | Manuia le afiafi |
| Sardinian (Logudorese) |
Bona sera |
| 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 |
| Sinhala | සුභ සැන්දෑවක් (subha sandhavak) |
| Slovak | Dobrý večer |
| Slovenian | Dober večer |
| Somali | Fiid wanaagsan |
| Sorbian (Upper) | Dobry wječor |
| Spanish | Buenas tardes / Buenas noches |
| Stellingwarfs | Goeienaovend |
| Swahili | Habari ya jioni |
| Swedish | God kväll |
| Swiss German | Gueten Oobe |
| Tagalog | Magandang gabi po (frm) Magandang gabi (inf) |
| Tahitian | Ia ora oe i teie po |
| Tamil | மாலை வணக்கம் (mālai vanakkam) |
| Tatar | Xäyerle kiç |
| Tetum | Bonoite / Kalan diak / Boasnoite |
| Thai | สวัสดีครับ/ค่ะ (sà-wàt-dee kráp/kâ) |
| Tibetan | དགོང་དྲོ་བདེ་ལེགས། |
| Tigrinya | ከመይ ኣምሲኻ (kemey Amsika) m/sg ከመይ ኣምሲኺ (kemey Amsiki) f/sg ከመይ ኣምሲኹም (kemey Amsikum) m/pl/frm ከመይ ኣምሲኽን (kemey Amsikn) f/pl/frm |
| Tok Pisin | Apinum / Gut nait |
| Tongan | Malo tau ma'u e efiafi ni |
| Tswana | Muitsibowa a a monate |
| Turkish | İyi akşamlar |
| Ukrainian | Доброго вечора (Dobroho večora) |
| Urdu | (roz bākhair) روز بخير |
| Uzbek | Hayirli kech |
| Venda | Ri perile |
| Venetian | Bona sera |
| Vietnamese | Chào buổi tối |
| Võro | Tere õdagust |
| Welsh | Noswaith dda |
| Wolof | Naka ngon si |
| Xhosa | Ubusuku obuhle |
| Yapese | Fal'e baleyal |
| Yiddish | (A gut ovnt) א גוט אָוונט |
| Yorùbá | Ẹ ku alẹ |
| Yucatec Maya | Ma'lob ak'ab |
| Zazaki | Şan be xér |
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
Welcome | Hello | Good morning | Good afternoon | Good evening | Good night | How are you? | Long time no see | Please | Thank you | Excuse me | Sorry | Goodbye | Bon voyage | Pleased to meet you | What's your name? | Where are you from? | I (don't) understand | Please say that again | Please speak more slowly | Please write it down | Do you speak English? | Do you speak ...? | Speak to me in ... | How do you say ... in ...? | I don't know | Go away! | Leave me alone! | Help! Fire! Stop! | Call the police! | Merry Christmas and Happy New Year | Happy Easter | Happy Birthday | Good luck | Cheers! | Bon appetit | Would you like to dance? | How much is this? | Have a nice day | Where's the toilet? | Get well soon | I love you | I miss you | My hovercraft is full of eels | One language is never enough