Greetings are the friendliest place to start any language. Here are the essential Hebrew greetings you will use every single day, with pronunciation and when to use them.
How to say hello in Hebrew
The most famous Hebrew word is שלום (shalom). It literally means peace, and it is used to say both hello and goodbye — at any time of day, in any situation. If you learn one Hebrew word, make it this one.
Greetings by time of day
- בוקר טוב — boker tov — good morning
- צהריים טובים — tsohorayim tovim — good afternoon
- ערב טוב — erev tov — good evening
- לילה טוב — laila tov — good night
Asking how someone is
- מה שלומך? — ma shlomcha? (to a man) / ma shlomech? (to a woman) — how are you?
- מה נשמע? — ma nishma? — what is up? / how is it going?
- הכול טוב — hakol tov — all good
Saying thank you and goodbye
- תודה — toda — thank you
- תודה רבה — toda raba — thank you very much
- להתראות — lehitraot — see you / goodbye
- ביי — bye — bye (casual)
A friendly extra
On the Sabbath and weekends you will hear שבת שלום (Shabbat shalom) — a warm greeting meaning "peaceful Sabbath".
Keep going
Pair these with common Hebrew words and phrases and you can already start a friendly chat. New to the script? Start with the Hebrew alphabet, or just download AlephTalk and learn greetings with audio on Day 1.