Alright ! We have seen in my previous blog post various forms of greetings that you may hear and could use across Germany. Now I would like to take this one step ahead and introduce you all to German farewells or sendoff’s. It was evident from my previous post that there are numerous ways one can greet someone in Germany. Likewise, you would have different forms of saying ‘goodbye’ to someone in Germany. Here we go!

“Tschüss, Tschüssi” (choooss, chooossi) When I landed in Germany, I heard someone at the train station saying Tschüss which is similar to goodbye in English. It sounded so good that I never accepted widely conceived notion that German language is monotonous and sounds a bit hard. The way Germans pronounce Tschüss is noteworthy, with extra emphasis on ‘ü’.

Ciao (tchao) I think the word is borrowed from Italy where it is used both as a form of greeting someone or saying a goodbye. However, in Germany I only heard its use as a form of saying goodbye.

Auf Wiedersehen / Auf Wiederhören (a-uf weeder-zehen/ a-uf weeder-heoren). These terms are used widely in formal context. Literally, see you later or talk to you later. Auf Wiederhören is actually limited to telephonic conversations where you do not actually see a person face-to-face.

Bis später/Bis dann /Bis bald (bis shpaeter/bis dann/bis baald). As opposed to auf wiedersehen or auf wiederhören, these are used more in informal situations, with your friends or family, or simply with someone you are well-acquainted with. These translate to ‘see you later’ or ‘see you soon’.

Bis zum nächsten Mal (bis su’m nexten maal) a good way to depart with someone you regularly meet is to say bis zum nächsten Mal (literally ‘until next time’).

Schönen Tag (sheo’nen Taag) Have a nice day in English. This greeting is widely used during the daytime. You may also hear a suffix ‘noch’(noqh) which means “still” in a literal sense but when someone greets you with shönen Tag noch, it would actually mean ‘have a nice rest of the day’.

Schönen Abend (sheo’nen aa’bend) when you wish to greet someone with nice evening, shönen Abend would be term you would like to use. You can extend the greeting shönen Abend noch to say ‘have a nice rest of the evening’.

Schönes Wochenende (sheo’nes woqh’en-ende) how about saying have a nice weekend ? Now you got the right word for it.

Frohes Schaffen (fro’hes Shaf’fen) when someone is still working and you leave them, tell them frohes Schaffen which means enjoy your work in a sense to be productive.

Gute Fahrt! / Gute Reise! (goote faart / goote ra’ise) mostly used in the context when someone is traveling. This means have a nice trip/journey.

Machs Gut (makhs goot) a casual way to say someone to take care or bye-bye. Literal meaning would be ‘do well’.

So, you have learnt quite a lot of words in German to greet someone. What are you waiting now. Make use of them with your friends, colleagues, or even strangers by greeting and let them know that you are starting to learn their language. Have fun ! Oh…. did I say the word for it ? Here it is …. Viel Spaß (feel shpass) !