Traditionally, learning German means that in your first or second lesson you will learn “Guten Morgen”, “Guten Tag”, “Guten Abend” and – only before going to sleep, unlike in Portuguese and Spanish – “Gute Nacht”.
A little grammar excursion: Nacht has a feminine article in German. But why “guten Tag” and not “gut-er Tag”? Welcome to the accusative. When saying this greeting, it is thought along: I wish you a good day. Day is masculine in German, so it has to be altered in the accusative.
However, if you enter a store or restaurant in Austria, you are very likely to hear the somewhat old-fashioned “Grüßgott” (greet God) – or colloquially “Hallo”, dialectal “Griaßdi”. If you are going to leave the place, you may choose between “Tschüs” or “Ciao” and he formal “Auf Wiedersehen” (like in Italian “Arrivederci” – a formal ‘See you!’)
“Servus” is how I am greeted in many places in Munich, Germany. It sounds familiar and like home to me, but I also have to smile. In Austria, I would normally only say it to people I’m on a first-name basis with. After all, “Hallo” is the more common informal greeting for my circle of friends. But in Bavaria, “Servus” (from Latin) is a formal greeting too. From my early childhood days, I remember my friend’s mother shouting angrily: “You don’t say hello to grandpa!” (But servus?)
My Viennese “Baba“, which sounds similar to bye bye, is only heard by people close to me when I say goodbye.
Baba ihr (you all)— until next Sunday!
New: The pronuncation of the German words in this text
PS: Have you or your kids started learning German? If music helps you studying, you could sing with.
Running Words 