Greet a stranger in their native language, and you might just spark a great conversation—or maybe even a lasting friendship. While there’s nothing wrong with saying a simple “hey” in the morning, you can take your language skills to the next level and impress locals by saying “good morning” in their language.
Ready to wish others a good morning in their native tongue? Here’s a list of ways to say “good morning” in 25 different languages.
“Good morning” in different languages
1. Spanish: Buenos días
Buenos días is the most common way to say good morning in Spanish and literally translates to “good days.” Learn all the basic Spanish words you need for every conversation.
2. French: Bonjour
Bonjour is used to say both “good morning” and “hello” in French. Go beyond greetings with these 100+ conversational French phrases.
3. German: Guten Morgen
Guten Morgen is the most common way to say good morning in German. If you really want to make a good first impression, here are 10 other ways to say hello in German.
4. Italian: Buongiorno
Buongiorno is the standard way of saying good morning in Italian and literally translates to “good day.” Extend a welcome to every person you meet with these Italian greetings.
5. Chinese (Mandarin): 早上好 (zǎo shàng hǎo)
早安 (zǎo ān) is another way to say good morning in Chinese. Both expressions can be used in all situations, formal or informal. Learn everything from the Chinese phonetic alphabet to useful phrases in our Mandarin Chinese essentials guide.
6. Japanese: おはようございます (ohayō gozaimasu)
おはようございます (ohayō gozaimasu) is used in formal interactions, or when you want to show more politeness and respect. For casual situations, such as greeting close friends and family members, you can use おはよう (ohayō) instead. Look into more useful Japanese phrases for everyday conversations.
7. Korean: 좋은 아침이에요 (joh-eun ah-chim-ee-eh-yo)
While there is no official way to say “good morning” in Korean, the closest equivalents are 좋은 아침이에요 (joh-eun ah-chim-ee-eh-yo) for formal situations and 좋은아침 (joh-eun achim) for casual interactions. But these expressions aren’t as popular as you’d expect. Instead, you’ll hear these much more often:
- 잘 잤어요? (jal jat-ssuh-yo) is a formal question that translates to “did you sleep well?” This is the most popular morning-specific greeting in Korean. You can drop the honorifics with friends and family and ask 잘 잤어? (jal jat-ssuh).
- 안녕하세요 (annyeong haseyo) is the formal Korean way of saying “hello,” but is used more commonly than morning-specific greetings. For casual conversations, you can just say 안녕 (annyeong).
8. Arabic: صباح الخير (sabah al-khayr)
صباح الخير (sabah al-khayr) is the most common way of saying good morning in Arabic and can be used for both formal and informal occasions.
9. Hindi: शुभ प्रभात (shubh prabhaat)
शुभ प्रभात (shubh prabhaat) is the most popular way to say good morning for both polite and casual interactions.
10. Russian: доброе утро (dobroye utro)
доброе утро(dobroye utro) is the most universal way to greet people in the morning. Check out all the different ways you can extend a hello in Russian.
11. Ukrainian: Доброго ранку (dobroho ranku)
You can also use добрий день (dobryi den), which translates to “good day,” as another greeting during the daytime.
12. Greek: Καλημέρα (kaliméra)
Καλημέρα (kaliméra) is the most universal way to say good morning and literally translates to “good day.”
13. Hebrew: בוקר טוב (boker tov)
בוקר טוב (boker tov) is the most common way to say good morning in Hebrew for both informal and formal interactions. You’ll often hear בוקר אור (boker or) in response, which translates to “morning of light.”
14. Dutch: Goedemorgen
Goedemorgen can also be shortened to just morgen.
15. Swedish: God morgon
You can also use god dag to say good morning in Swedish.
16. Irish Gaelic: maidin mhaith
While maidin mhaith is the literal translation of “good morning” from English, it’s rarely used. Instead, people commonly say dia duit, which means “hello.”
17. Portuguese (Brazil): Bom dia
Bom dia literally means “good day” and can be used in both formal and informal interactions. Build your Brazilian Portuguese skills with these conversational phrases.
18. Navajo: Yá’át’ééh abíní
The Navajo word abíní means “morning” and yá’át’ééh is used to say “it is good.”
19. Tagalog (Filipino): Magandang umaga po
Magandang umaga po is the polite way to say good morning. In casual interactions, you can say magandang umaga.
20. Vietnamese: Chào buổi sáng
While the official translation for “good morning” in Vietnamese is chào buổi sáng, it’s hardly ever used. Instead, xin chào and chào are used to greet others in the morning. Both phrases mean “hello,” with the latter one being a more casual expression.
21. Indonesian (Bahasa): Selamat pagi
Selamat pagi can be used to say good morning for both formal and informal occasions. All greetings in Indonesian start with selamat, meaning “happy” or “peaceful.”
22. Thai: สวัสดีตอนเช้า (sawatdee ttawn chao)
Although สวัสดีตอนเช้า (sawatdee ttawn chao) is the official translation for “good morning” in Thai, the locals don’t use it. Instead, you can say:
- สวัสดีครับ (sawatdee khrap) if you identify as a man, or
- สวัสดีค่ะ (sawatdee kha) if you identify as a woman.
This expression is the most versatile greeting in Thai—it’s used to say anything from “hello” and “good morning” to “goodbye.”
23. Farsi (Persian): صبح بخیر (sobh bekheir)
صبح بخیر (sobh bekheir) is the most common way to say good morning in Persian and directly translates to “wishing you a good morning.”
24. Turkish: Günaydın
Günaydın is the most common way to say good morning and can be used for both formal and informal situations.
25. Polish: Dzień dobry
Dzień dobry is a polite Polish greeting that can be used to say both “good morning” and “good afternoon.” For a casual conversation, cześć is acceptable, as are any of these other Polish greetings.
Go beyond greetings with Rosetta Stone
While “hello” and “good morning” can help you start talking in a foreign language, you’ll need a lot more phrases under your belt to carry a whole conversation. Whether you want to learn a language to build deeper relationships with family, connect with clients, or befriend locals, Rosetta Stone can help.
Through Rosetta Stone’s unique immersive approach to learning, you’ll learn with real-world images and hear audio from native speakers. Plus, each lesson only takes 10 minutes and can be completed on the go with the Rosetta Stone app. Visit rosettastone.com today to choose from 25 languages and start building your language skills!
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Melody Li
Melody is an education writer for Rosetta Stone, IXL, and Education.com. When she's not writing articles in English, she's reading Chinese novels and watching Korean TV (with English subtitles, for now).
