Greetings and how to say Hello in Slovak

Have you ever wondered how to say Hi in Slovak? Slovaks greet each other very often and it is considered a little bit rude not to respond! So let´s have a look at most common greetings and goodbyes.

Formal greetings: Good morning, good afternoon, good evening and good night in Slovak

Here is the list with the most common formal greetings:

• Dobré ráno is used in the morning until 9 am
• Dobrý deň usually corresponds to period from 9 am until approximately 6 pm
• Dobrý večer is a greeting after 6 pm
• Dobrú noc is said only when a person is going to sleep

You can use “Dobrý deň” or a short form "Dobrý" in almost all formal conversations or official places. For example, when you enter

• the shops
• the offices
• the schools
• the restaurants and cafés
• or any other place where the formal communication is required

Informal greetings: Hello and Hi in Slovak

The most useful greetings, when you meet with

• the family
• the friends
• the youngsters
• or the people with the same age (usually under 30 years of age)

There are lots of other greetings which are used by friends and have similar meanings, but are considered as slang words. Those are, for example, "serus, ahojky, nazdar, čauko". You can use these to create a fun and relaxed atmosphere.

Difference between "tykanie" and "vykanie" in Slovak

• "tykanie" derived from the word "ty", is a singular form of "you". It is used in informal addressing others
• "vykanie" derived from the word "vy", is a plural form of "you". It is used in formal addressing others

When addressing formally, either in an e-mail, or at school, you should use the titles. 

Here are some examples of informal greeting:

• Ahoj, Anka. (Hello, Anka.)
• Čau, Adam. (Hi, Adam.)

Here  are some examples of formal greeting:

• Dobrý deň, pán Novák. (Good afternoon, Mr. Novák.)
• Dobré ráno, pani Jurková. (Good morning, Ms. Jurková.)

Ask how you are in Slovak

Here are the most common phrases used to ask and respond "How are you?".

How to say goodbye in Slovak

Again, in Slovakia, you can say goodbye in a formal or informal way.

Here are some formal greetings:

And some informal greetings:

And last but not least, it is important how to say goodbye during phone calls. You can say "Dopočutia" or a short form "Dopo" when ending a phone call.

Example dialog

Jana: Dobrý večer, pán Kováč! (Good evening, Mr. Kováč)

Martin: Dobrý večer, slečna Juríková. Ako sa máte? (Good evening, Ms. Juríková. How are you?)

Jana: Ide to. Ďakujem. A vy? Je všetko v poriadku? (It is fine. Thank you. What about  you? Is everything all right?)

Martin: Áno. Mám sa fajn. Ďakujem. (Yes. I am fine. Thank you.)

Jana: Výborne. Dovidenia, pán Kováč. (Great. Goodbye, Mr. Kováč.)

Martin: Do skorého videnia, slečna Juríková. (See you later, Ms. Juríková.)

Do the exercises and practice what you learned!