Wondering how to say hello in Dari?
This post covers how to greet people in Dari and teaches you some essential phrases including ‘hello’, ‘good morning’, ‘good afternoon’ and ‘good night’.
It also covers some other greeting etiquette such as handshakes and gestures.
Hopefully you’ll leave this page knowing some essential Dari greetings.
Table of Contents
How To Say Hello In Dari
If you want to say hello in Dari then you can do so with the following phrase:
- Hello/hi – سلام (Salam)
This word literally just means ‘peace’ and is the most common way to say hello in Dari.
This phrase is a shortened version of the following:
- Hello – السلام عليكم (As-salaamu alaikum)
Literally, it means ‘peace be upon you’.
This is actually an Arabic phrase but has been adopted into the Dari language due to the majority of Afghan people being Muslim.
To respond to these greetings, you should say:
- Response to greeting – و عليكم السلام (Wa’alaikum as-salaam)
Wa’alaikum as-salaam literally means ‘and peace be upon you’ and is the standard response to either salaam or as-salaamu alaikum.
Another greeting you may want to use is:
- Welcome – خوش آمدید (Khosh aamadaid)
You can use this phrase, for example, if you are welcoming guests into your home.
How To Say Other Greetings In Dari e.g. ‘Good Morning’
You may want to use some other greetings in Dari such as ‘good morning’, ‘good evening’ and ‘good night’.
Check out these other Dari greetings below:
How To Say Good Morning In Dari
To say good morning in Dari, you can say:
- Good morning – صبح بخیر (Sobh bakhair)
Use this phrase at any time during the morning up until around 12PM noon.
How To Say Good Evening In Dari
To say good evening in Dari, you can say:
- Good evening – چاشت بخير (Chast bakhir)
How To Say Good Night In Dari
To say good night in Dari, you can say:
- Good night – شب بخير (Shab bakhair)
This phrase is used as a greeting at night time.
If you want to say good night to someone because you’re going to sleep, use the below phrase instead:
- Good night (going to sleep) – شب خوش (Shaw khosh)
Check out the video below to hear the pronunciation of these phrases in Dari by a native speaker:
Afghan Greeting Etiquette
Greetings are really important in Afghan culture and are a great way to make a good first impression.
If you fail to greet someone properly in Afghanistan, you may be seen as rude so it’s important to get them right.
Greetings often get very long and they are not just a quick ‘hello’.
After saying hello, it is polite to ask how someone is but the greetings don’t stop there.
Usually you would then ask how their family is and how their children are and how their health is etc.
This can make greetings really long but it is seen as polite.
How To Greet An Afghan
Usually, when Afghan men greet each other, they will place their right hand over their hearts then shake hands.
Close friends and relatives will hug each other.
When 2 women greet each other, they tend to kiss each other on the cheek.
Men and women generally do not shake hands or physically touch in any way unless they are close family (e.g. a father and daughter).
A man would greet a woman by placing his hand on his own heart and then nodding slightly to the woman.
Thanks for reading this post on how to greet someone in Dari. Continue your conversation by learning how to say ‘how are you?’ in Dari.
Hopefully you now know how to say ‘hello’ in Dari and also how to say ‘good morning’, ‘good evening’ and ‘good night’ in Dari.
You can find out more about the Dari language here.
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