Hello in Arabic

Greetings are an important part of relating in an Egyptian setting. Good etiquette dictates that adequate greetings are exchanged before the “business” of the conversation is addressed, so you will find that Egyptians will welcome you and ask you how you are several times in a conversation. This is considered polite, especially for a host. Hospitality is an important Arab value and so the repeated use of various greetings is just an Egyptian way of making sure you feel welcome. Check out this free lesson on hello in Arabic!

Resources for further reading:

• Top tips for learning Arabic online
• The top ten "learn Arabic" hacks

Learn to say hello in Arabic...

Hello and Welcome in Arabic

Ahlan wa Sahlan literally means “welcome,” but is commonly used as a general greeting just like “hello” in English. This greeting can be shortened to just ahlan (hi) in informal settings. When greeting a number of people, you should say ahlan wa Sahlan bekum or ahlan bekum. Both greetings can be responded to by saying ahlan beek (to a male) or ahlan beeke (to a female).

Islamic Greetings

As all Arab countries are predominantly Muslim countries, you will very likely hear and be greeted with the universal Islamic greeting issalamu 3alekum! This literally means “peace be upon you” and the appropriate response would be wa 3alekum issalam which means “and peace be upon you.”

How are you in Arabic

As was mentioned before, Egyptians have a number of different ways of asking essentially the same question. The most common greeting after saying "hello," is the Egyptian "how are you":

Other Arab countries also have different ways to ask “how are you”:

Greetings according to time

Greetings can also be given according to the time of day, as you heard in the audio lesson. Saba7 il 7’eer means good morning and can be used until midday. The appropriate response is Saba7 il noor, although you might also hear Saba7 il ful.

Misa’ il 7’eer means good afternoon, which applies to the rest of the day. The appropriate response is Misa il noor. Tesba7 ala 7’eer means good night, and is used when leaving someone’s house late at night or when going to bed. It is repeated in response.

All of these greetings can be generally answered with the following reply:

If you want more lessons on Arabic salutations then I recommend that you check out the following:

• More Arabic Salutations.
• How to pronounce different greetings in Arabic.
• Learn lots of introductions in Arabic. Really handy!
• Using polite words in Arabic will get you far.
• Being able to say Thank you in Arabic is essential for a great Arabic experience!

!مع السلامة (Ma3a essalama!) Goodbye!

Amira Zaki: Rocket Arabic