

There are no rules how many kisses on which side you have to give. Kisses are no comon gesture, although it can ocure in formal and informal greetings. A handshake and eye-contact are mandatory, hugs are a no-go when you want to greet someone in a formal way. So, formal german greetings, as already mentioned, are mainly used when talking to authorites, older people, unknown people and in business. „Lieber“ might be the most important form of beginning and informal letter or text-message. But, of course, informal german greetings still ocure in written form in Emails and other text-messages. Well, letters as a normal form of day-to-day comuncation between friends and family became a little bit outdated. As an answer, a simple „Gut, danke!“ (Yes, thank you!) or „Ja, danke!“ (Yes, thank you!) can be the answer. Phrases as „Wie gehts’s?“ and „Alles klar?“ are another comon form of german greetings among friends and family. You can use it in these regions as a simple „Hello“. „Servus“ is a greeting mainly used in the southern part of Germany, Austria and North Tirol, Italy. You can use them with gestures like giving the hand to the person or giving a short hug. „Hallo“ and „Hi“ are the most comon informal german greetings. We will differ between formal german greetings you use in business-situations or with authorities and german greetings you use among friends and family. Here you can see the most comon greetings used in german-speaking countries. You will see that it is quite easy learning, remembering and using german greetings, as you will need and apply them every day! And once you‘re into it, „Guten Tag“ will not get out of your head anymore… Saying „Hello“ Appropriate german greeting is always a good way to get started! So, using german greetings in nearly every day-to-day situations is quite common – whether in business-meetings, comunication with authorities or when just meeting your friends. They show the good manners and education you possess and, most important, the respect you have for other people you interact with. In Germany, as well as in all the other german speaking countries, german greetings are an essential part of any social interaction.
