LingoflyGreetings and goodbyes in Kazakh
10 words in Kazakh on the topic “greetings and goodbyes”: Сәлеметсіз бе (Sälemetsiz be) — hello (formal), Сәлем (Sälem) — hi, Сау болыңыз (Sau bolyñyz) — goodbye, Қайырлы таң (Qaiyrly tañ) — good morning. 10 words can be played from recordings.
10 words on the topic
- Сәлеметсіз беSälemetsiz behello (formal)The full polite greeting. The "be" at the end is a question particle, so literally "are you well?"
- СәлемSälemhiFor your own people. An Arabic loan for "peace" — the same word you hear in "salaam" and "shalom".
- Сау болыңызSau bolyñyzgoodbyeLiterally "be healthy". Among your own, the short sau bol does the job.
- Қайырлы таңQaiyrly tañgood morning"Qairly" means "auspicious". Evening is qairly kesh, night is qairly tun — the same frame, a different word.
- Қалайсың?Qalaisyñ?how are you?The same word on first-name terms: the polite -syz swaps to -syñ. The pair works exactly like sau bolyñyz and sau bol, the two farewells.
- Қалайсыз?Qalaisyz?how are you (polite)?"Qalai" is "how" and -syz is the polite "you" — the pronoun lives inside the word, the way it does in Turkish.
- Қайырлы түнQaiyrly tüngood nightThe third of the qairly set: tan is morning, kesh is evening, tun is night. Said when parting for the night, not when meeting in the evening.
- Қайырлы күнQaiyrly küngood afternoon"Qairly" means "auspicious", as in the morning "qairly tan" and the night "qairly tun"; only the second word changes.
- Қайырлы кешQaiyrly keshgood evening"Kesh" is both "evening" and "late". Before sleep it is "qairly tun", a different wish altogether.
- Сау болSau bolbyeLiterally "be healthy". This is "sau bolynyz" minus the polite tail "-ynyz" — that is, on informal terms.
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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
Сәлеметсіз бе (Sälemetsiz be) — hello (formal). The full polite greeting. The "be" at the end is a question particle, so literally "are you well?"
Сәлем (Sälem) — hi. For your own people. An Arabic loan for "peace" — the same word you hear in "salaam" and "shalom".
Сау болыңыз (Sau bolyñyz) — goodbye. Literally "be healthy". Among your own, the short sau bol does the job.
Қайырлы таң (Qaiyrly tañ) — good morning. "Qairly" means "auspicious". Evening is qairly kesh, night is qairly tun — the same frame, a different word.
Test yourself
First by ear — the way you will meet the word in conversation. Click the speaker and pick the translation.
- What is this word?
It is Сәлеметсіз бе (Sälemetsiz be) — hello (formal).
- What is this word?
It is Қайырлы күн (Qaiyrly kün) — good afternoon.
- What is this word?
It is Қалайсың? (Qalaisyñ?) — how are you?
- What is this word?
It is Сәлем (Sälem) — hi.
- What is this word?
It is Қайырлы кеш (Qaiyrly kesh) — good evening.
Now the other way around: recall the spelling from the meaning. That is harder, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “hello (formal)” in Kazakh?
The full polite greeting. The "be" at the end is a question particle, so literally "are you well?"
- How do you say “good afternoon” in Kazakh?
"Qairly" means "auspicious", as in the morning "qairly tan" and the night "qairly tun"; only the second word changes.
- How do you say “how are you?” in Kazakh?
The same word on first-name terms: the polite -syz swaps to -syñ. The pair works exactly like sau bolyñyz and sau bol, the two farewells.
- How do you say “hi” in Kazakh?
For your own people. An Arabic loan for "peace" — the same word you hear in "salaam" and "shalom".
- How do you say “good evening” in Kazakh?
"Kesh" is both "evening" and "late". Before sleep it is "qairly tun", a different wish altogether.
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 “hello (formal)” in Kazakh?
«Сәлеметсіз бе» (Sälemetsiz be), read “Sälemetsiz be”. The full polite greeting. The "be" at the end is a question particle, so literally "are you well?" It is one of 10 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 10 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.
Is there audio?
Yes, 10 words on this page can be played — click the speaker next to the word. The sound works on any phone, and nothing needs to be installed.