Some Useful Greetings and Sayings in Hebrew - Part 1
Greetings:
Hello - (shalom) שלום.
Another translaton for shalom - peace. The word can also be used as “goodbye”.
Goodbye, see you later - (lehit-raot) להתראות
Today, people usually don’t like to use the word as a translation for “goodbye”, so they say it as a translation for “see you later”. If you want to say “see ya”, you can shorten it and say lehit.
Lit. “to meet”
Good morning - (boker tov) בוקר טוב
Good afternoon - (tzohorayim tovim) צהרים טובים
Good evening - (erev tov) ערב טוב
Good night - (layla tov) לילה טוב
How are you? - there is more than one way to say it in Hebrew:
- The first one I am gonna give you depends on whom are you talking to. If you’re talking to:
- A guy - מה שלומך (ma shlomkha)
- A girl - מה שלומך. Indeed, it’s written the same, but not pronounced the same. You pronounce it like that: ma shlomekh.
- Guys (plural) - ma shlomkhem.
- Girls ( ^ ) - ma shlomkhen.
If somebody asks you “ma shlomkha/shlomekh”, you can either say “ani beseder” (I am okay) or “shlomi tov” (I am good).
Lit. What is your well-being/peace?
Note: If you are talking to both a guy and a girl, you should say “ma shlomkhem”.
-
“?מה נשמע” (ma nishma) - It means “what’s up?”, “how are you?” . You can also say it to people you don’t know and to your friends.
Literally means “what’s sounds?”. -
“?מה קורה” (ma kore) - Same as ma nishma. It can be used when talking to friends or strangers, but it’s more used when talking to people you know. It is a alternative to ma nishma, but more casual.
Literally means: What’s happening?, what’s going on?
Thank you - (toda {lekha/lakh}) (תודה (לך.
If you want to say “thank you so/very much”, it is “(תודה רבה (לך” (toda raba (lekha/lakh)
Note: “lekha” is said when you are talking to a juy, and “lakh” is said to a girl. By the way, if you want to say “thank you so much” for more than one guy, it is “toda raba lakhem” (תודה רבה לכם); and if it’s said for more than one girl, it is “lakhen” (לכן).
If you just want to say “thanks”, then “toda” will do.
You’re welcome - there is more than one way to say it:
- בבקשה (bevakasha). Another meaning: please.
Examples with the word “bevakasha”:
-
Person A: Toda lekha (thank you)
Person B: Bevakasha (you’re welcome) -
Person A: At yekhola bevakasha le’havi lee et ze? (Can you please bring it to me?)
Note: the word “at” (את) means “you”, but you say it when you talk to a girl/woman.
Person B: Camuvan (of course).
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אין בעד מה (e’in be’ad ma). Literally: it’s not for what ; idiomatically: it’s nothing.
-
על לא דבר (al lo davar). Literally: on no thing ; idiomatically: it’s nothing ; don’t mention it.
Good day/have a good day - (yom tov) יום טוב
Good luck - (be’hatzlakha) בהצלחה. Literally: with a success.
Congratuations -(mazal tov). Literally: good fortune
Jewish greetings:
בעזרת השם (be’ezrat ha’shem) - said when speaking of the future and wanting G-d’s help. You can say that it’s like the Arabic word “insha’alla”, just on the Jewish version (we call our god “ha’shem”, “Ha’kadosh barukh hu”, etc.).
Translation: with Ha’Shem’s help.
It is mainly said by religious Jews, but it can also be said by masortim or secular Jews.
לבריאות (labriut. Some people say “livriut”. But most would rather say “labriut”) - it’s a Hebrew equivalent of saying “bless you” when someone sneezes.
לחיים (L’khaim) - Cheers. Literally: to life.
רפואה שלמה (refuah shelema) - Get well soon. Lit. (may you have) a full/complete recovery. Said when someone is sick or injured.
שבת שלום (shabbat shalom) - Used any time on Shabbat ( trans. Saturday). It means “peaceful shabbat”.
By the way, we call the Saturday nights “motza’ei shabbat” (מוצאי שבת - lit. the going out of Saturday). If you want to say it in short, you can say “motzash” (מוצ"ש)
שבוע טוב (shavua tov) - a good week. Used on Saturday night, even on Sundays to wish someone a good coming week.
חג שמח (chag same’akh) - Happy holiday. You can insert holiday name in the middle. For example: chag Purim same’akh. (by the way, don’t pronounce “same” as in the English word “same”)
Also, we have a greeting for Passover, “chag kasher ve’same’ach”, meaning “happy and kosher holiday”.
צום קל (tzom Kal) - used to wish someone else mainly for Yom Kippur, but it can also be said for other fasting days. We never use “happy” in Yom Kippur, because this day is meant to be somber holiday, not a happy one.
גמר חתימה טובה (gmar chatima tova) - lit. A good final sealing ; idiomatically: May you be inscribed (in the Book of Life) for good. Said in Yom Kippur.
Greetings for Rosh Ha’Shana:
שיהיה לך/לכם/לכן) שנה טובה ומתוקה) ({she’yihiye lekha/lakh/lakhem/lakhen} shana tova u’metuka) - (may you have) a good and sweet year.
תזכה/י לשנים רבות טובות ונעימות (tizke/i le’shanim rabot u’ne’imot) - May you merit many good and pleasant years. Used to wish someone well for Rosh Ha’Shana and Yom Kippur.
I’ll add later more greetings if needed. So, that’s all for now.
Feel free to ask.