Greetings and goodbyes in Hebrew
9 words in Hebrew on the topic “greetings and goodbyes”: שלום — hi, יום טוב — good afternoon, בוקר טוב — good morning, ערב טוב — good evening.
9 words on the topic
- שלוםшаломhiThe most famous Hebrew word: hello, goodbye and peace in one. It greets at any hour of the day
- יום טובйом товgood afternoonLiterally "good day": said as a daytime greeting and wished to someone when parting
- בוקר טובбокер товgood morningLiterally "good morning". The boundary is the same as in English: after eleven it is already yom tov
- ערב טובэрев товgood eveningLiterally "good evening". The first letter ע is not read — erev, not aerev
- להתראותлеитраотgoodbyeLiterally "until we see each other" — from the root r-a-h, to see. The all-purpose farewell
- בייбайbyeFrom the English bye, but long since its own: friends part with it more often than with lehitraot
- מה שלומך?ма шломха?how are you?Literally "how is your peace?". To a woman the question is shlomekh — the final ך reads kh
- מה שלומכם?ма шломхем?how are you all?Said to a group: shlomkhem. The polite you in Hebrew is simply the plural
- לילה טובлайла товgood nightLiterally "good night" — built on the same pattern as yom tov and boker tov
How it sounds in a sentence
A word list is a blank. Conversation is made of sentences, and these are the ones the words fit into most often.
What is worth knowing about these words
שלום (шалом) — hi. The most famous Hebrew word: hello, goodbye and peace in one. It greets at any hour of the day.
יום טוב (йом тов) — good afternoon. Literally "good day": said as a daytime greeting and wished to someone when parting.
בוקר טוב (бокер тов) — good morning. Literally "good morning". The boundary is the same as in English: after eleven it is already yom tov.
ערב טוב (эрев тов) — good evening. Literally "good evening". The first letter ע is not read — erev, not aerev.
Test yourself
Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than recognizing a familiar word — and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “hi” in Hebrew?
The most famous Hebrew word: hello, goodbye and peace in one. It greets at any hour of the day
- How do you say “how are you all?” in Hebrew?
Said to a group: shlomkhem. The polite you in Hebrew is simply the plural
- How do you say “bye” in Hebrew?
From the English bye, but long since its own: friends part with it more often than with lehitraot
- How do you say “good evening” in Hebrew?
Literally "good evening". The first letter ע is not read — erev, not aerev
- How do you say “good afternoon” in Hebrew?
Literally "good day": said as a daytime greeting and wished to someone when parting
How to learn the set instead of just reading it
Every conversation starts here, and so does every first impression: say hello in the local language and you stop being a stranger in about a second.
A list is read in a minute and forgotten in a day. What works: hide the translation, try to recall, get it wrong — and come back to the same words tomorrow.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- Study spread over days wins not only in experiments but in ordinary classrooms, with real students.checked many timesMawson & Kang, 2025, Behavioral Sciences 15(6):771 · 22 studies, d = 0.54 (confidence interval 0.31–0.77). The authors warn that individual studies disagree widely.
Frequently asked
How do you say “hi” in Hebrew?
«שלום», read “шалом”. The most famous Hebrew word: hello, goodbye and peace in one. It greets at any hour of the day. It is one of 9 words in the set “greetings and goodbyes” — the rest are in the table above.
How many greetings do you need to start?
The whole set on this page is 9 words, but there is no need to start with all of it: the words you will need in the next few days are enough. Take them a few at a time — five to seven new ones per session.