How to Say "Good Morning" in 10 Languages

A warm "good morning" is the easiest way to make a good first impression anywhere. Learn these ten and you'll greet the day — and the people in it — like a local.

• 🇫🇷 French — Bonjour — bon-ZHOOR — Technically "good day", but it's the all-purpose morning greeting. Say it to everyone you meet in France.
• 🇪🇸 Spanish — Buenos días — BWEH-nohs DEE-ahs — Note the plural "days" — Spanish wishes you good days, not just one.
• 🇮🇹 Italian — Buongiorno — bwohn-JOR-noh — One word, said with a smile at the café bar over your first espresso.
• 🇩🇪 German — Guten Morgen — GOO-ten MOR-gen — In the south of Germany and Austria you'll also hear Grüß Gott.
• 🇵🇹 Portuguese — Bom dia — bohn DEE-ah — Simple and warm; used until lunchtime across Brazil and Portugal.
• 🇳🇱 Dutch — Goedemorgen — KHOO-duh-mor-khun — That throaty "g" is very Dutch; lean into it.
• 🇷🇺 Russian — Доброе утро — DOH-bra-yeh OO-tra — Literally "good morning"; softer and less formal than the standard hello.
• 🇸🇦 Arabic — صباح الخير — Sa-BAH al-KHAYR — "Morning of goodness". The lovely reply is صباح النور (SabaaH an-nuur) — "morning of light".
• 🇨🇳 Chinese (Mandarin) — 早上好 — zǎoshang hǎo (dzao-shang how) — Among friends you can just say 早 (zǎo) — the equivalent of "morning!"
• 🇯🇵 Japanese — おはようございます — o-ha-YOH go-zai-mas — Polite and used everywhere; drop the gozaimasu with close friends.

Say the greeting, catch the reply, and you're already in a conversation. Meet a native speaker below and make "good morning" the first of many words you learn.