Meeting and Greetings

If you have spent any time in The Netherlands, you will have come across how friendly everyone is. It took me a few months to get used to my neighbours saying hoi when I saw them and even the odd person on the street too. Living in Edinburgh, my neighbours kept to themselves and certainly wouldn’t say hi if I saw them.

Here are some informal everyday greetings to say to someone;

Hallo! – Hello

Hoi – Hi

Goedemorgen – Good morning

Goedemiddag – Good afternoon

Goedenavond – Good evening

Alles goed? – How’s it going?

Hoe gaat het? – How are you doing?

Goed/heel goed, en met jou? – I’m good/very good, and you?

Dag – Bye

Tot ziens – Bye

Tot zo – See you. (in a few minutes)

Tot morgen – See you tomorrow

Doei – Bye (very informal)

If you use any of these phrases you can easily trick anyone that you speak Dutch.

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