Greetings
Let's learn greetings and introductions used in a German language context.
Do note, that register changes how we speak with fellow humans. Our learning will be very general in nature, and change according to context.
Standard Greetings
A standard greeting, is a greeting exchanged by two people with no or little failiarity. German culture is generally rather reserved, and the language reinforces that through formality, which communicates personal distance.
Guten Morgen
In the morning, so any time between 0:00 and 12:00 o'clock, a common greeting is guten Morgen, which literally translates to good morning in English.
Most shorten the phrase to Morgen for brevity.
Guten Tag
The most basic greeting, and generally understood by any German speaker, is guten Tag, which literally translates to English as good day.
This can be shortened to Tag, but this is done less frequently. The reason for this lays with people usually using a different set of greetings during the day, depending on location and the dialect spoken there.
Guten Abend
As the day progresses, after around 4 in the afternoon (sechzehn Uhr, one would say guten Abend, literally translating to good evening.
Gut Nacht
When leaving at night, one will say gut Nacht, but note the change from guten to gut, which indicates a change in gender of the noun. The technical term for this is declension, and this Wikipedia article explains declension in the German language.
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Last update: 202601280909