How to greet someone in Romanian

In this lesson you will learn how to:

• Greet informally someone in Romanian

• Hi
• Hello
• Hello (on the phone)

• Greet formally someone in Romanian

• Good morning
• Good day
• Good evening
• Good night

English	Romanian translation	Audio	Phonetic Transcription
Hi/Hello	Salut		/sa'lut/
Hi or Hello (second way) please see remark below the table	Bună		/'bu.nə/
Hello (on the phone)	Alo		/a'lo/
Happy Birthday	La mulți ani		/la 'mulʦʲ anʲ/

Is there a difference between "salut" and "bună"?

"Salut" and "Bună" are used in informal cases whereas in formal encounters "Bună dimineaţa / Bună ziua / Bună seara" is more appropiate.
There is no real difference between "salut" and "bună".

English	Romanian translation	Audio	Phonetic Transcription
Good morning	Bună dimineața		/'bu.nə di.mi'ne̯a.t͡sa/
Good day This is the most common formal greeting. In English it has sometimes the nuance of dismissal, however in Romanian it is a mere greeting with no negative implications	Bună ziua		/'bunə 'zi.wa/
Good evening	Bună seara		/'bu.nə 'se̯a.ra/
Good night	Noapte bună		/'no̯ap.te 'bu.nə/
Goodbye can be used in both a formal and informal situation	La revedere		/la re.ve'de.re/
Bye	Pa		/pa/

When and how to use the time of the day greetings in Romanian

• Bună dimineața (Good morning) is to be used from dawn until noon.
• From noon until dusk you can safely say Bună ziua (Good day).
• When it starts to get darker outside, e.g. around 20-21 o’clock one would say Bună seara (Good evening).
• Noapte bună (Good night) is mainly to be used when the day ends for you, e.g. when you decide to go home to sleep. It is meant as a closure greeting, and that for you the activities of that day are over.

The easiest way or if in doubt just say “Bună ziua” (Good day).

How does one say Good afternoon in Romanian?

Romanians do not say Good afternoon. They actually use Bună ziua (Good day) from lunch time until the evening.

Old style Romanian greeting

Sărut mâna is mainly used to address old persons. It is a familial, colloquial, traditional way of greeting a Romanian, that shows affection and respect. However nowadays it is less and less used. You can address it both to a woman or a man. It was/is used mainly by children, however it is perfectly fine for a 40 year old son to greet his 70 year old Romanian father by saying Sărut mâna. It literally means “[I] Kiss [your] hand”. Don’t worry if you’ll ever decide to impress your Romanian partner’s grandmother by saying it, you don’t have to literally kiss her hand. It frequently happens that in spoken Romanian the final "t" in "Sărut" would be omitted and both words would be be spoken as one, without a perceptible break in between the words.