Good afternoon – a greeting that not only marks the middle of the day but also conveys warmth and well-wishing in many cultures around the world. Just as the word “yes” can vary significantly across languages, so can this midday salutation, offering a glimpse into the linguistic diversity and cultural nuances of our global community. In this article, we’ll explore how to say “good afternoon” in 70 different languages, from the bustling cities of the world’s most spoken languages to the tranquil towns of some of its lesser-known tongues.
- Afrikaans (🇿🇦) – Goeiemiddag | Pronunciation: Goo-ee-mid-dahg
- Albanian (🇦🇱) – Mirëdita | Pronunciation: Mee-reh-dee-tah
- Arabic (Standard) (🇸🇦) – مساء الخير (Masa’ al-khayr) | Pronunciation: Mah-sah al-khayr
- Armenian (🇦🇲) – Բարի ցերեկ (Bari tserek) | Pronunciation: Bah-ree tse-rek
- Azerbaijani (🇦🇿) – Günortanız xeyir | Pronunciation: Goo-nor-tah-niz khey-ir
- Basque (🇪🇸) – Arratsalde on | Pronunciation: Ah-rah-tsal-deh on
- Belarusian (🇧🇾) – Добрай дзень (Dobry dzien) | Pronunciation: Doh-bry dzien
- Bengali (🇧🇩) – শুভ অপরাহ্ণ (Shubho aporahno) | Pronunciation: Shoo-boh ah-po-rah-no
- Bosnian (🇧🇦) – Dobar dan | Pronunciation: Doh-bar dan
- Bulgarian (🇧🇬) – Добър ден (Dobar den) | Pronunciation: Doh-ber den
- Catalan (🇪🇸 – Catalonia) – Bona tarda | Pronunciation: Boh-nah tar-dah
- Czech (🇨🇿) – Dobré odpoledne | Pronunciation: Doh-bray od-po-led-ne
- Danish (🇩🇰) – God eftermiddag | Pronunciation: Goh ef-ter-mid-dahg
- Dutch (🇳🇱) – Goedemiddag | Pronunciation: Khoo-duh-mid-dahg
- English (🇺🇸 / 🇬🇧) – Good afternoon | Pronunciation: Good af-ter-noon
- Estonian (🇪🇪) – Tere päevast | Pronunciation: Teh-reh pay-vast
- Farsi (Persian) (🇮🇷) – بعد از ظهر بخیر (Ba’d az zohr bekheir) | Pronunciation: Bad az zohr bek-heyr
- Finnish (🇫🇮) – Hyvää iltapäivää | Pronunciation: Hoo-vaa eel-tah-pai-vaa
- French (🇫🇷) – Bon après-midi | Pronunciation: Bohn ah-prey-mee-dee
- Georgian (🇬🇪) – გამარჯობა (Gamardjoba) | Pronunciation: Gah-mar-joh-bah
- German (🇩🇪) – Guten Tag | Pronunciation: Goo-ten Tahg
- Greek (🇬🇷) – Καλό απόγευμα (Kalo apogevma) | Pronunciation: Kah-loh ap-oh-yev-mah
- Hebrew (🇮🇱) – צהריים טובים (Tzoharayim tovim) | Pronunciation: Tsoh-hah-rah-yim toh-veem
- Hindi (🇮🇳) – शुभ अपराह्न (Shubh aparahna) | Pronunciation: Shoobh ah-pah-rah-na
- Hungarian (🇭🇺) – Jó napot | Pronunciation: Yo nah-pot
- Icelandic (🇮🇸) – Góðan dag | Pronunciation: Go-than dahg
- Indonesian (🇮🇩) – Selamat siang | Pronunciation: Se-lah-mat see-ahng
- Irish Gaelic (🇮🇪) – Tráthnóna maith | Pronunciation: Trah-noh-nah mah
- Italian (🇮🇹) – Buon pomeriggio | Pronunciation: Bwohn po-meh-ree-joh
- Japanese (🇯🇵) – こんにちは (Konnichiwa) | Pronunciation: Koh-nee-chee-wah
- Kazakh (🇰🇿) – Күндіз (Kündiz) | Pronunciation: Koon-deez
- Khmer (Cambodian) (🇰🇭) – ល្ងាចល្អ (Lngaich la) | Pronunciation: Luh-ngahch lah
- Korean (🇰🇷) – 안녕하세요 (Annyeonghaseyo) | Pronunciation: An-nyeong-ha-se-yo
- Kurdish (🇮🇶 / 🇸🇾 / 🇹🇷 / 🇮🇷) – Roj baş | Pronunciation: Rohj bahsh
- Kyrgyz (🇰🇬) – Күндүз (Kündüz) | Pronunciation: Koon-düz
- Lao (🇱🇦) – ສະບາຍດີ ຕອນແລງ (Sabaidee ton laeng) | Pronunciation: Sa-bai-dee ton laeng
- Latvian (🇱🇻) – Labdien | Pronunciation: Lahb-dee-en
- Lithuanian (🇱🇹) – Labą dieną | Pronunciation: Lah-bah dee-eh-nah
- Luxembourgish (🇱🇺) – Gudde Mëtteg | Pronunciation: Gud-deh Met-teg
- Macedonian (🇲🇰) – Добар ден (Dobar den) | Pronunciation: Doh-bar den
- Malay (🇲🇾 / 🇮🇩) – Selamat tengah hari | Pronunciation: Seh-lah-maht teng-ah ha-ree
- Maltese (🇲🇹) – Tajba wara nofsinhar | Pronunciation: Tie-bah wah-rah nof-sin-har
- Mandarin Chinese (🇨🇳) – 下午好 (Xiàwǔ hǎo) | Pronunciation: Shyah-woo how
- Marathi (🇮🇳) – शुभ दुपार (Shubh dupar) | Pronunciation: Shoobh doo-paar
- Mongolian (🇲🇳) – Өдрийн мэнд (Өdriin mend) | Pronunciation: Ud-reen mend
- Nepali (🇳🇵) – शुभ दिउँसो (Shubha diunso) | Pronunciation: Shoo-bha dee-oon-so
- Norwegian (🇳🇴) – God ettermiddag | Pronunciation: Gohd etter-mid-dahg
- Pashto (🇦🇫) – ورځ مو په خېر (Wraz mo pa khyer) | Pronunciation: Wraz mo pa khyer
- Persian (Farsi) (🇮🇷) – ظهر بخیر (Zohr bekheir) | Pronunciation: Zohr bek-heyr
- Polish (🇵🇱) – Dzień dobry | Pronunciation: Jen doh-bry
- Portuguese (🇵🇹 / 🇧🇷) – Boa tarde | Pronunciation: Bo-ah tar-deh
- Romanian (🇷🇴) – Bună ziua | Pronunciation: Boo-nah zee-wah
- Russian (🇷🇺) – Добрый день (Dobry den’) | Pronunciation: Doh-bry dyen’
- Serbian (🇷🇸) – Добар дан (Dobar dan) | Pronunciation: Doh-bar dan
- Sinhala (🇱🇰) – සුබ දවලක් (Suba davalak) | Pronunciation: Soo-ba dah-va-lak
- Slovak (🇸🇰) – Dobré popoludnie | Pronunciation: Doh-bray po-po-loo-dnee
- Slovenian (🇸🇮) – Dober dan | Pronunciation: Doh-ber dan
- Somali (🇸🇴) – Galab wanaagsan | Pronunciation: Gah-lab wa-nahg-san
- Spanish (🇪🇸) – Buenas tardes | Pronunciation: Bwe-nas tar-des
- Swahili (🇰🇪 / 🇹🇿) – Habari ya mchana | Pronunciation: Hah-bah-ree yah mcha-na
- Swedish (🇸🇪) – God eftermiddag | Pronunciation: Good ef-ter-mid-dag
- Tajik (🇹🇯) – Рӯзи хуб (Rūzi khub) | Pronunciation: Roo-zi khoob
- Tamil (🇮🇳) – மதிய வணக்கம் (Mathiya vanakkam) | Pronunciation: Mah-thi-ya va-nak-kam
- Telugu (🇮🇳) – శుభ మధ్యాహ్నం (Shubha madhyahnam) | Pronunciation: Shoo-bha madh-yah-nam
- Thai (🇹🇭) – สวัสดีตอนบ่าย (Sawasdee ton bai) | Pronunciation: Sa-was-dee ton bai
- Turkish (🇹🇷) – İyi öğleden sonra | Pronunciation: Ee-yee oh-le-den sohn-rah
- Ukrainian (🇺🇦) – Добрий день (Dobryi den) | Pronunciation: Doh-bree den
- Urdu (🇵🇰) – شام بخیر (Sham bakhair) | Pronunciation: Sham bak-hair
- Uzbek (🇺🇿) – Hayirli kun | Pronunciation: Hay-ir-lee koon
- Vietnamese (🇻🇳) – Chào buổi chiều | Pronunciation: Chow boo-oy chew