Wondering how to say ‘hello’ in Bulgarian?
This post covers how to greet people in Bulgarian and teaches you some essential phrases including ‘hello’, ‘good morning’, ‘good afternoon’ and ‘good night’ including pronunciation.
It also covers some other greeting etiquette such as handshakes and gestures.
Hopefully you’ll leave this page knowing some essential Bulgarian greetings.
Table of Contents
How Do You Say ‘Hello’ In Bulgarian?
If you want to say ‘hello’ to someone in Bulgarian then you can do so with the following phrases.
Click on the Bulgarian word to hear the pronunciation by a native speaker.
- Hello (informal, to 1 person) – Здрасти (Zdrasti)
- Hello (informal, to 1 person) – Здравей (Zdravey)
- Hello (informal, to a group) – Здравейте (Zdraveyte)
- Good day (formal) – Добър ден (Dobar den)
- Hey (informal) – Хей (Hey)
In informal situations, such as with friends/family, you can use either здрасти (zdrasti) or здравей (zdravey) to say hello to one person.
There’s no difference between them and you can use them interchangeably.
You could also greet with the super informal хей (hey) which is very similar to the English ‘hey’.
If you’re talking to a group in an informal situation, then use здравейте (zdraveyte) instead.
In more formal situations, you should say ‘good day’ which is добър ден (dobar den).
How To Say Other Greetings In Bulgarian e.g. ‘Good Morning’
You may want to use some other greetings in Bulgarian such as ‘good morning’, ‘good afternoon’ and ‘good night’. Check out these other Bulgarian greetings below:
How To Say ‘Good Morning’ In Bulgarian
To say ‘good morning’ in Bulgarian, you can say:
- Good morning – Добро утро (Dobro utro)
You should only use this phrase in the morning until around 12pm.
The meaning is very straightforward with ‘добро’ meaning ‘good’ and ‘утро’ meaning ‘morning’.
How To Say ‘Good Afternoon’ In Bulgarian
To say ‘good afternoon’ in Bulgarian, you can say:
- Good afternoon – Добър ден (Dobar den)
This phrase literally means ‘good day’ so you can actually use it at any point in the day however it’s most commonly heard in the afternoon.
How To Say ‘Good Evening’ In Bulgarian
To say ‘good evening’ in Bulgarian, you can say:
- Good evening – Добър вечер (Dobar vecher)
This phrase literally means ‘good evening’ with ‘добър’ meaning ‘good’ and ‘вечер’ meaning ‘evening’.
This phrase should only be used in the evening from around 6pm until night time.
How To Say ‘Good Night’ In Bulgarian
To say ‘good night’ in Bulgarian, you can say:
- Good night – Лека нощ (Leka nosht)
This phrase can be used to say goodbye or to go to bed. You should only use this phrase at night or just before bed.
Bulgarian Greeting Etiquette
In general, Bulgaria has a fairly formal society so when you meet someone for the first time you should greet them with a handshake and you should address them with their title (e.g. Mr/Miss/Mrs) and their surname.
When greeting friends and family you can use first names and you often would greet with a kiss and a hug.
If you’re not sure on how informal to be with someone, it’s best to wait for the Bulgarian person to decide when to be less formal.
If you haven’t already then make sure to learn the numbers in Bulgarian. Everyone should know this essential vocabulary.
Thanks for reading this post on how to greet someone in Bulgarian. Hopefully you now know how to say ‘hello’ in Bulgarian and also how to say ‘good morning’, ‘good afternoon’ and ‘good night’ in Bulgarian.
You can find out more about the Bulgarian language here.
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