Greetings and goodbyes in Urdu
9 words in Urdu on the topic “greetings and goodbyes”: سلام — hello, صبح بخیر — good morning, خدا حافظ — goodbye, کیا حال ہے؟ — how are you?
9 words on the topic
- سلامsalamhellothe stress stays flat and the middle vowel short: sa-lam, not sa-laam
- صبح بخیرsub bekhairgood morningLiterally "morning [be] good". Wishes are built as time word + bakhair, and the answer is expected in the same shape: bakhair — "good"
- خدا حافظkhuda hafizgoodbyeLiterally "God [be your] keeper": may God guard you. The friendlier phir milenge — see you — lives next door and is heard just as often
- کیا حال ہے؟kya hal hai?how are you?Literally "what [is your] state?". Haal — state — is the same word you met in subah bakhair. The verb is closes the line
- میں ٹھیک ہوںmain thik hunI am fineLiterally "I well-am": the little is glues onto the end of the line, where English keeps a separate word. The full answer: main theek hoon, shukriya
- پھر ملتے ہیںphir milte hainsee youLiterally "later we-meet": the verb stands at the very end of the line. The most common friendly parting between one’s own
- شام بخیرsham bekhairgood eveningLiterally "evening [be] good" — the same shape as subah bakhair. Shaam is the evening, and evening here starts at noon
- شب بخیرshab bekhairgood nightLiterally "night [be] good" — the third wish of the family. Said at bedtime and when parting late in the evening
- آدابadaba polite greetingThe bookish good day with no religious tint — how one greets elders and city strangers. The answer is the same aadab back
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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.
- سلام، دوست!salam, dost!Hello, friend!
- صبح بخیر! کیا حال ہے؟sub bekhair! kya hal hai?Good morning! How are you?
- خدا حافظ، پھر ملتے ہیں!khuda hafiz, phir milte hain!Goodbye, see you!
- سلام! کیا حال ہے؟salam! kya hal hai?Hello! How are you?
- میں ٹھیک ہوں، شکریہ!main thik hun, shukriya!I am fine, thank you!
- خدا حافظ! پھر ملتے ہیںkhuda hafiz! phir milte hainGoodbye! See you
What is worth knowing about these words
سلام (salam) — hello. The one hello for every occasion — the very word that greets you across the whole region. Fits any time of day, to friends and strangers alike.
صبح بخیر (sub bekhair) — good morning. Literally "morning [be] good". Wishes are built as time word + bakhair, and the answer is expected in the same shape: bakhair — "good".
خدا حافظ (khuda hafiz) — goodbye. Literally "God [be your] keeper": may God guard you. The friendlier phir milenge — see you — lives next door and is heard just as often.
کیا حال ہے؟ (kya hal hai?) — how are you? Literally "what [is your] state?". Haal — state — is the same word you met in subah bakhair. The verb is closes the line.
Test yourself
Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than recognizing a familiar word — and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “hello” in Urdu?
The one hello for every occasion — the very word that greets you across the whole region. Fits any time of day, to friends and strangers alike
- How do you say “good night” in Urdu?
Literally "night [be] good" — the third wish of the family. Said at bedtime and when parting late in the evening
- How do you say “see you” in Urdu?
Literally "later we-meet": the verb stands at the very end of the line. The most common friendly parting between one’s own
- How do you say “how are you?” in Urdu?
Literally "what [is your] state?". Haal — state — is the same word you met in subah bakhair. The verb is closes the line
- How do you say “good morning” in Urdu?
Literally "morning [be] good". Wishes are built as time word + bakhair, and the answer is expected in the same shape: bakhair — "good"
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” in Urdu?
«سلام», read “salam”. The stress stays flat and the middle vowel short: sa-lam, not sa-laam. 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.