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As Juliet told Romeo, “Parting is such sweet sorrow.”
While leaving friends or family can be bittersweet, it can also be the key to more new adventures!
In case you are traveling to a new country to work or live, it will be smart to learn a few basic words and phrases including how to say “goodbye”.
Every country in the world has its own ways to part from their family and friends or to politely bring a conversation to an end. If you are curious, you should check out this list of ways to say goodbye in other languages.
Bonus: Get a free PDF file with ways to say goodbye
1. Adiós
Language: Spanish
Pronounced: ah-THYOSHS
Adiós is one of the many ways that Spanish have to say “goodbye”. You can check out other Spanish words and phrases for “goodbye” in our blog post here.
2. Addio
Language: Italian
Pronounced: ahd-DEEH-oh
Spanish and Italian are both classified as Romance Languages, which are languages that evolved from Latin. Given that, there are many words in both that sound similar and mean the same thing. Case to point, “addio” or goodbye in Italian is similar in sound and meaning to “adiós” in Spanish.
3. Adeus
Language: Portuguese
Pronounced: ah-deh-ooSH
Portuguese is another Romance Language, so the Portuguese word for goodbye sounds quite like the Italian and Spanish word for goodbye.
4. Adieu
Language: French
Pronounced: ah-DYOH
This is one way that you can say goodbye in French. “Adieu” is a combination of two words “a” and “dieu” which basically translates as “to God” so this phrase is similar to “God be with you” or “God speed”. So you are basically wishing for God’s protection on someone who is leaving.
5. Adjö
Language: Swedish
Pronounced: ah-YEU
This is a Swedish word to say “goodbye” that is supposed to have come from the French word “adieu”.
6. Alvida
Language: Punjabi
Pronunciation: al-VI-da
7. Annyeong
Language: Korean
Pronounced: AN-nyeong
This is how you can say “goodbye” if you are among people who speak and understand Korean.
8. Antio sas
Language: Greek
Pronounced: ann-tee-oh-sass
You can use this phrase to say “goodbye” to someone who speaks or understands Greek.
9. Arrivederci
Language: Italian
Pronounced: ahr-REE-va-DER-chee
This is another Italian word used to say goodbye and is basically translated to “until we see each other again”. It is a combination of “a” which is Italian for “until” and “rivederci” which is “we see each other again”.
10. Au Revior
Language: French
Pronounced: oh-VWAHR
This is another common phrase that French speakers use to say “goodbye” to someone.
11. Auf Widersehen
Language: German
Pronounced: owf-VEE-der-zayn
This is a basic way that you can say “goodbye” to someone in German.
12. Biday
Language: Bengali
Pronounced: bi-day
This is the Bengali word that translates to “goodbye”, though it isn’t much in use and you are more likely to hear a Bengali speaker just use the English phrase “bye”, or the Bengali phrase we’re going to talk about below.
13. Bhalo theko
Language: Bengali
Pronounced: halo-TE-ko
This Bengali phrase is a more common way to say goodbye than “biday”. It translates to something like “take care” and is used when someone is leaving a certain group of people for now.
14. Bless
Language: Icelandic
Pronounced: bleh-s
Icelandic speakers say this when they want to say “goodbye”. You might hear it said twice, “bless bless”, a lot but whether you say it once or twice, it means “goodbye”.
15. Choum reap lear
Language: Cambodian Khmer
Pronounced: jom-REE-up-LEE-er
This is the formal way to say “goodbye” in Cambodian Khmer.
16. Dag
Language: Dutch
Pronounced: DACH
You can use this simple phrase to say farewell to someone who speaks and understands Dutch
17. Do pobachennya
Language: Ukrainian
Pronounced: doh-poh-ba-CHAN-ya
This phrase is what you can use if you need to say “goodbye” to someone who speaks Ukrainian.
18. Dos svidaniya
Language: Russian
Pronounced: do-sve-DAN-ya
You can use this phrase if you want to take your leave of a group of Russian speakers. The literal translation is something like, “until the next time we meet”.
19. Do zobaczenia
Language: Polish
Pronounced: doh-soh-bah-CHAN-ya
This phrase is used by Polish speakers to say “goodbye”.
20. Dovidenja
Language: Croatian
Pronounced: doh-vee-JEN-ya
This is a common Croatian phrase that is used to say “goodbye”.
21. Farvel
Language: Danish
Pronounced: fa-VEL
This is a simple Danish phrase that you can use to bid someone “goodbye”.
22. Farvel
Language: Norwegian
Pronounced: FAR-vel
You can also say “Farvel” if you want to say “goodbye” to a Norwegian speaker.
The difference between a Norwegian “Farvel” and a Danish “Farvel” lies in the syllable to be stressed. The Norwegians place the stress in the first syllable, so it’s FAR-vel. The Danes on the other hand stress the second syllable so it’s more like Fa-VEL.
23. Güle güle
Language: Turkish
Pronounced: goo-lee-goo-ley
This is a common Turkish phrase that is used to say “goodbye”.
24. Hade
Language: Norwegian
Pronounced: HA-day
This is another Norwegian phrase that means “goodbye”
25. Hej
Language: Danish
Pronounced: HEY
Though this Danish word sounds more like “hi” when spoken, it’s actually used more like the informal English “bye”.
26. Hejda
Language: Swedish
Pronounced: HEY-do
This is another word that Swedish speakers use to say “goodbye”.
27. Jaa ne
Language: Japanese
Pronounced: JA-ne
This is an informal way of saying “goodbye” in Japanese. You can use it when leaving a group of Japanese speaking friends, similar to how you would say “see you” to your English speaking friends.
28. Joigin
Language: Cantonese
Pronounced: JOI-gin
You can say farewell to a Cantonese speaker by saying this phrase.
29. La reverdere
Language: Romanian
Pronounced: LA-re-ve-DEH-re
This is how you can say “goodbye” in Romanian.
30. Khudā Hāfez
Language: Farsi
Pronounced: Ho-DAH-ah-fez
This Farsi phrase is used to say “goodbye”. It is sometimes shortened to “khodafez”. It translates to “may god be your guardian” as “Khoda” means “god” while “Hāfez” means “protection”.
31. Kwaheri
Language: Swahili
Pronounced: Kwah-hay-ree
If you are around people who speak and understand Swahili, this is the phrase you should use to say “goodbye”.
32. Ma’assalama
Language: Arabic
Pronounced: MA-assa-lama
This phrase translates to “with safety/peace” but it can be used to simply say goodbye to someone.
33. Mirupafshim
Language: Albanian
Pronounced: meer-oo-PAHF-sheem
This is an Albanian phrase which is used to say “goodbye”
34. Näkemiin
Language: Finnish
Pronunciation: NAK-eh-meen
This is the formal word for “goodbye” in Finnish. It comes from the Finish word “nähdä” which means “to see”, so the translation is similar to “until we meet again”.
35. Nasvidenje
Language: Slovene
Pronounced: nas-VEE-dan-yeh
If you want to take your leave from a group of Slovene speakers, you can say this.
36. Paalam
Language: Tagalog
Pronounced: puh-AH-lam
You can use this word to say “goodbye” to a Tagalog speaker. You might also hear “Paalam na” which is basically the same thing.
37. Sampai Jumpa
Language: Indonesian
Pronounced: SAM-pai-jum-PA
You can use this Indonesian phrase to say “goodbye”.
38. Selamat Jalan
Language: Malay
Pronounced: SUH-la-mat-JA-lan
We are going to cover two ways to say “goodbye” in Malay here, the first is “selamat jalan” which is what you say if YOU are staying but someone is leaving. So you are saying “goodbye” to them.
39. Selamat tinggal
Language: Malay
Pronounced: SUH-la-mat-ting-AL
This is another way to say “goodbye” in Malay, this time if you are leaving a group of people.
40. Sayonara
Language: Japanese
Pronounced: sai-OH-nar-ah
This is the most basic way to say “goodbye” in Japanese
41. Sbohem
Language: Czech
Pronounced: sbo-HEM
If you want to say “goodbye” to a Czech speaker, you can say this.
42. Slán
Language: Irish
Pronounced: slawn
This is how you say “goodbye” in Irish.
43. Totsiens
Language: South African
Pronounced: TOTE-seens
Because of the big Dutch influence in South Africa, many of their words are influenced by or come from Dutch words. That is the case with this word to say “goodbye” which is actually a combination of two Dutch words; “tot” which means “until” and “zien” which means “see”. So it actually means “until we see each other again”.
44. Tot ziens
Language: Dutch
Pronounced: tut-ZEEN
This is another way Dutch speakers say “goodbye”. As you can see, this is where the South Africans got their word for “goodbye”.
45. Tschüss
Language: German
Pronounced: Chus
This is another, more informal way of saying “goodbye” to a German speaker.
46. Tstesutyun
Language: Armenian
Pronounced: ts-su-tyoon
This is the phrase for “goodbye” in Armenian.
47. Uz redzēšanos
Language: Latvian
Pronounced: ooz-REHD-zehh-shuh-nohs
This is a phrase that means “goodbye” in Latvian.
48. Viszontlátásra
Language: Hungarian
Pronounced: Vee-sohnt-la-tah-shrah
This is the word for “goodbye” in Hungarian.
49. Zai jian
Language: Mandarin Chinese
Pronounced: tzai-JIEN
You can say this if you want to say “goodbye” to someone who understands Mandarin Chinese. It’s one of those basic Chinese words and phrases that you should learn.
6 Words Used To Say Goodbye – And Hello – In Another Language
Here are a few interesting ways to say goodbye in other languages. We wanted to highlight these because, as you can see, they are phrases that are used by native speakers to both greet someone “hello” and say “goodbye”.
1. Aloha
Language: Hawaiian
Pronunciation: a-loo-ha
Aloha is sort of an all-purpose greeting in Hawaii. It is used both to welcome someone and bid them farewell. It is used to convey good wishes and affection.
2. Ciao
Language: Italian
Pronounced: CHOW
This is a word that Italians can use to say “goodbye” but they might also use it to greet the new arrival.
3. Namaste
Language: Hindi
Pronounced: NA-mas-the
This word is uttered by Hindi speakers upon arrival to greet others or to say goodbye when they are leaving.
4. Salut
Language: French
Pronunciation: SA-lut
This French phrase is used as an informal way to say “goodbye”. It is also, however, used to say “hi”.
5. Sawasdee Krab/Ka
Language: Thai
Pronunciation: sa-wa-dee
This Thai phrase is an all-around greeting that can be used to say “hello” or “goodbye”. You will either use “krab” or “ka” depending on your gender. So, if you are male, say “sawasdee krab” but if you are female, say “sawasdee ka”.
6. Shalom
Language: Hebrew
Pronunciation: SHA-lom
This is another dual purpose greeting, this time in Hebrew. The translation is “peace” but it is used both to welcome someone and to bid them farewell. There is also a more formal way to use “shalom” to say “goodbye”, this is “shalom Aleichem” or “peace be with you”.
Conclusion
Learning the most common words in a foreign language is important if you want to gain fluency. As such, you really need to memorize lists of words and phrases in your target language.
If you want a break, however, or have ambitions of becoming a polyglot, studying lists like this with several phrases that mean the same thing in different languages can be an interesting mental exercise.
To make things easier for you, we’ve compiled the different ways to say goodbye in other languages that we explained here in a downloadable PDF. This way you can learn them at your leisure.
Whatever your target language, however, you should make it a point to discuss with an online native speaking tutor the different ways to say goodbye in their language. While many of the “goodbye” phrases here are basic and common enough to be understood by any native speakers, depending on the cultures and traditions, there might be other more appropriate ways that a native speaker will use to part from friends, family, co-workers, superiors, or acquaintances.
Learning the different, appropriate words and gestures for “goodbye” in a different language will ensure that you don’t accidentally give offense and ensure that, your parting from your new friend is indeed a “sweet sorrow” that will be soothed by the fact that you will see each other again.
Goodbye for now! And enjoy your language learning journey!
