Are you starting to learn German? Knowing how to say farewell in German is a good way to smoothly end your conversations in the German language. In this post, learn how to say “goodbye” in German to make a good impression with native speakers.
In German, tschüss is a common way you’ll hear people say “goodbye” in German. It’s short and casual, so we’ll teach you a more formal way to say farewell in German in just a moment.
As we shared in our post on how to say “hello” in German, Germans like to use diminutives and augmentatives to adapt the meaning of certain words. Tschüss is one of these words. It becomes tschüssi and it means “little goodbye”.
German, along with many other languages, borrowed the Italian ciao as a way to say goodbye. You can use this word in informal and semi-formal situations.
When you look up how to say “bye” in German, auf wiedersehen is one of the most common translations you’ll see. But this expression actually means “see you again” or “until I see you again”. The German word wieder means “again” and sehen means “to see”.
If you would like to tell someone that you’ll see them soon, you can use bis bald. Bis means “till” and bald means “soon”.
Parting for the evening? You can tell your German acquaintances goodbye with this expression. “Goodnight” in German is Gute Nacht.
Wondering why “good” becomes guten in the German greetings Guten Morgen and Guten Tag but Gute in Gute Nacht? Nacht is a feminine word whereas Tag and Morgen are masculine, so gut takes on a different form in the accusative when preceding Nacht.
In addition to saying “see you soon”, you can also say “see you later” in German. This is bis spâter, but you can also use...
Both bis dann and bis später mean “see you later”, but bis dann more literally means “see you then”.
There’s yet another way to say “see you later” in German. It’s Wir sehen uns. When you add dann, it means “see you then”.
If you want a way to “see you later” or “see you next time” to someone you see on a regular basis, you can use bis zum nächsten Mal.
Instead of telling someone you’ll see them later in German, you can tell them you’ll talk to them later. “Talk to you later” in German can be either Wir sprechen uns bald or Wir sprechen uns später.
When getting ready to part ways early on in the day, you might tell someone to “have a good day” or to enjoy the rest of their day. In German, this is Schönen Tag noch. The noch can be left out.
Saying goodbye at the end of the school or work week? This is Schönes Wochenende in German.
Finally, you may want to tell someone to “Enjoy!” or “Have fun!” as you part ways. In German, this expression is Viel Spaß!
Want to learn more words and phrases in German?
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