EkGuru › Learn Hindi › Topics › Hindi greetings
When namaste is right, when it is oddly formal, and what people actually say.
नमस्ते is the safe answer and it is not always the natural one. It is respectful and neutral, correct with strangers, elders and anyone you are unsure about — which is exactly when a learner needs it. Between friends nobody says it. They use a name, or hi, or nothing at all.
नमस्कार is a shade more formal, common in broadcasting and speeches. आदाब and सलाम are used in Muslim contexts and among Urdu speakers; sat sri akal among Sikhs. Matching whatever the other person says is the reliable rule, and it is also a courtesy.
Time-of-day greetings are largely a written convention in Hindi. सुप्रभात exists and means good morning; in speech most people say नमस्ते, or Good morning in English. Do not force the Hindi form to prove a point — it sounds like a textbook.
The one thing worth getting right is the honorific. जी attached to a name or to हाँ turns a blunt sentence into a courteous one, and costs nothing. जी हाँ instead of a bare हाँ is the difference between answering an elder correctly and answering them abruptly.
And goodbye: अलविदा is heavier than English goodbye, carrying a sense of long parting. Day to day people say नमस्ते again, or फिर मिलेंगे — we will meet again.
| English | Hindi | Sounds like |
|---|---|---|
| Hello / greetings | नमस्ते | namaste |
| Hello (more formal) | नमस्कार | namaskaar |
| Good morning | सुप्रभात | suprabhaat |
| How are you? | आप कैसे हैं? | aap kaise hain |
| How are you? (informal) | तुम कैसे हो? | tum kaise ho |
| I am fine | मैं ठीक हूँ | main theek hoon |
| And you? | और आप? | aur aap |
| Goodbye | अलविदा | alvida |
| See you later | फिर मिलेंगे | phir milenge |
| Good night | शुभ रात्रि | shubh raatri |
| Thank you | धन्यवाद | dhanyavaad |
| Thanks (Urdu-origin, very common) | शुक्रिया | shukriya |
Devanagari is easy to get slightly wrong when it is typed by hand — a missing matra, the wrong nukta. If something here looks off to you, trust a native speaker over this page and please tell us so it gets fixed — it takes a moment and a real person reads it. Romanised spellings are a guide to the sound, not a standard: there is no single official way to write Hindi in Latin letters.
Reading gets you the grammar. Speaking is the part that only happens with another human. EkGuru tutors are native Hindi speakers in India who teach one to one over video — no group classes, no subscription.
Find a Hindi Guru Free Hindi guides