Goodbye in different languages: 107 notable ways to bid farewell

No doubt, it can be one of the hardest words to say, but generally, it’s inevitable. Because with every hello, there comes a goodbye.

No matter where you live, you’ll encounter people from different backgrounds. Whether you’re a frequent traveler who always meets people from other countries or a business owner who interacts with foreigners, knowing how to say goodbye in different languages will help you maintain excellent relationships with these people.

And aside from that, it will make it easier for you to part ways with someone you used to spend time with. After all, who knows when you may need to understand someone else's goodbye? This is why in this article, we share with you how to say goodbye in over 90 languages - real or not!

Goodbye in different languages

Each language around the world has many ways to say goodbye. Of course, there are many different ways of saying goodbye in English. You can tell someone to have a nice day or to have fun. You can simply say, “see you later” or “take care.”

In French, for example, you can say au revoir (until we meet again), adieu (farewell), and à bientôt (until soon). In Spanish, there's hasta luego (see you later), hasta la vista (see you soon), or simply adios.

If you want to learn a language fast and you want to speak it fluently, you definitely should know different variations of goodbye, bye, and farewell. However, we couldn’t cover that all in one article, so we’ll focus on the most common way of saying goodbye in each language.

Language	Most common way to say goodbye	Pronunciation
Afrikaans	Totsiens	TOTE-seens
Albanian	Mirupafshim	meer-oo-PAHF-sheem
Amharic	Bayi (ባይ)	bai
Arabic	Mae alsalama (مع السلامة)	may ahsahlahmah
Armenian	Ts’tesut’yun (ցտեսություն)	ts-teess-uts-yun
Aymara	Jan mayampitaki	han-maym-pee-ta-kee
Azerbaijani	Sagol	saah-gohl
Basque	Agur	ah-goor
Bengali	Bidāẏa (বিদায়)	bi-dai
Bosnian	Zdravo	zdrah-voh
Bulgarian	Dovizhdane (Довиждане)	do-viz-DAH-neh
Burmese	Swarrtotmaal (သွားတော့မယ်)	swar-toh-meal
Cantonese	Baibai (拜拜)	bai-bai
Catalan	Adéu	ah-deh-ou
Cebuano	Paalam	pah-lahm
Chichewa	Bayi	ba-yee
Corsican	Avvedeci	aveh-deh-chee
Croatian	Doviđenja	doh-vee-JEN-ya
Czech	Ahoj	aa-hoi
Danish	Farvel	far-vel
Dutch	Tot ziens	tut-ZEENS
English	Goodbye or Bye	Gud-bai or Bai
Estonian	Nägemist	nahgehmist
Ewe	Hede nyuie	heh-deh-nwee
Farsi (Persian)	Khoda hafis (خداحافظ)	koo-dah ha-fiz
Fijian	Moce	mothay
Filipino	Paalam	pah-lahm
Finnish	Näkemiin	nah-keh-meen
French	Au revoir	oh-VWAHR
Gaelic (Irish)	Slán	slawn
Galician	Adeus	ah-deh-oos
Georgian	Ნakhvamdis (Ნახვამდის)	akhvamdis
German	Auf Wiedersehen	owf-VEE-der-zayn
Greek	Yasou	YAH-soo
Guarani	Jajohecha peve	ja-jo-echa-peh-veh
Haitian Creole	Orevwa	oh-reh-vwah
Hawaiian	Aloha	ah-loh-ha
Hebrew	Shalom (הֱיה שלום)	shah-lohm
Hindi	Namaste (नमस्ते)	nah-mah-stay
Hmong	Nyob zoo	niob-zoo
Hungarian	Viszontlátásra	vee-sohnt-la-tah-shrah
Icelandic	Bless	bleh-s
Igbo	Ka ọ dị	kah oh dee
Ilocano	Mapanen	mah-pah-nen
Indonesian	Selamat tinggal	sell-ah-maht teen-gahl
Italian	Arrivederci or Ciao	ah-ree-veh-DEHR-chee or CHOW
Japanese	Sayōnara (さようなら)	sie-yon-are-ah
Kazakh	Saw bolıñız (Сау болыңыз)	sahw-boh-lee-nees
Khmer	Leahaey (លាហើយ)	lee-ah-hai
Kinyarwanda	Muraho	moo-rah-hoh
Korean	Annyeong (안녕)	AN-nyeong
Kurdish	Bi xatirê te	by scat-er teh
Lao	Sabaidi (ສະບາຍດີ)	sa-bai-dee
Latvian	Ardievu	ar-die-voh
Lithuanian	Atsisveikink	at-sis-veik-ink
Luxembourgish	Äddi	ah-dee
Malagasy	Veloma	veh-loh-mah
Malay	Selamat tinggal	sell-ah-maht teen-gahl
Maltese	Addiju	a-dee-joh
Mandarin	Zàijiàn (再见)	tzai-JIEN
Maori	Kia koa	kee-yah koh-wah
Mongolian	Bayartai (Баяртай)	bah-yar-tyeh
Nahuatl	Ye niauh	yeah-nyah-uh
Navajo	Hágooshį́į́	hah-goo-shee
Nepali	Namaste (नमस्ते)	nah-mah-stay
Norwegian	Hade	HA-day
Pashto	Da khoday pa amaan (د خدای په امان)	dah khod-ay pah ah-mahn
Polish	Do widzenia	do-vids-enia
Portuguese	Adeus	ah-deh-ooSH
Punjabi	Alavidā (ਅਲਵਿਦਾ)	al-ah-vee-dah
Quechua	Tupanchikkama	too-pan-anchis-kama
Romanian	La revedere	LA-re-ve-DEH-re
Russian	Do svidaniya (до свидания)	do-sve-DAN-ya
Samoan	Tōfā	toe-fah
Sepedi	Šala gabotse	shah-lah-gah-bot-seh
Serbian	Zbogom (збогом)	z-boh-ghom
Sesotho	Sala hantle	sala hant-l
Slovak	Dovidenia	doh-vidjen-yeah
Slovenian	Nasvidenje	nas-vih-den-yeah
Somali	Nabad gelyo	nah-bad-jeh-lyoh
Spanish	Adiós	ah-DYOS
Swahili	Kwaheri	kwaheri
Swedish	Adjö	ah-YEU
Tagalog	Paalam	puh-AH-lam
Tahitian	Nānā	nah-nah
Taiwanese	Chài-kiàn	jaigen
Tamil	Piriyāviṭai (பிரியாவிடை)	pir-yah-vih-tai
Thai	Lā k̀xn (ลาก่อน)	laa-kawn
Tibetan	Kah-leh pheb	kah-leh pheb
Tongan	Alu a e	Ah-loo ah eh
Turkish	Güle güle	gooleh gooleh
Ukrainian	Do pobachennya (до побачення)	doh-poh-ba-CHAN-ya
Urdu	Khuda hafiz (خدا حافظ)	koo-dah ha-fiz
Uzbek	Xayr	hayir
Vietnamese	Tạm biệt	tahm bee-et
Welsh	Hwyl fawr	hwyl-fawr
Xhosa	Sala kakuhle	sah-lah kah-koo-leh

Saying goodbye in constructed languages

Constructed languages are languages created by one individual or a group of people with a specific purpose in mind. For example, fantasy languages - such as Dothraki or Sindarin - have been created to support a fictional story the authors wanted to tell. We cover these in the section below.

However, other constructed languages - such as Esperanto or Interlingua - have been created to become a shared, universal language that would unite people who speak different languages. According to unofficial stats, it is estimated that Esperanto has 2 million speakers worldwide.

Constructed language	How to say goodbye
Esperanto	Adiaŭ
Intelingua	Adeo! A revider!
Lingua Franca Nova	Adio
Novial	Adie

Saying goodbye in fictional languages

Has your love of fantasy movies and TV shows taken you so far to learn fictional languages?

If so, you’d be surprised how many resources you can find on the internet to learn at least the basics of the language spoken in Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, or the Harry Potter movies! But for now, here’s how to say “goodbye” in your favorite fantasy languages.

Fantasy language	What we think is the right way to say goodbye	Spoken by	Book/movie/show	Language created by
Dothraki	Hajas	The indigenous inhabitants of the Dothraki Sea	Game of Thrones	David Peterson
Klingon	Qapla'	The Klingons	Star Trek	Dr. Marc Okrand
Valyrian	Geros ilas	High Valyrian is no longer used as a language of everyday communication, but rather as a language of learning and education among the nobility of Essos and Westeros, with much literature and song composed in High Valyrian. The Nine Free Cities of Essos speak locally evolved variants of Valyrian.	Game of Thrones	David Peterson
Sindarin	Navaer	Spoken by the Elves called the Eledhrim [ɛˈlɛðrɪm] or Edhellim [ɛˈðɛlːɪm] in Sindarin.	Lord of the Rings	J.R.R. Tolkien
Quenya (Elvish)	Namárië	Spoken by the immortal Elves called Quendi ('speakers') in Quenya.	Lord of the Rings	J.R.R. Tolkien
Na’vi	Eywa ngahu	The inhabitants of Pandora.	Avatar	Dr. Paul Frommer

If you want to learn more prominent words from these incredible fictional conlangs, we have an article for it, of course.

Famous “goodbye” quotes

Saying goodbye isn’t always easy. Sometimes, we must say goodbye to someone we love - a friend, a family member, or a partner. Other times, we must part ways with our pet, our cozy apartment, or our first office. And while some goodbyes hurt, other goodbyes are necessary because they give us a chance to say a new hello.

To make these farewells a little more bearable, we’ve compiled a short list of famous (and inspiring) goodbye quotes from your favorite movie characters, book authors, and philosophers.

“Goodbye” quotes from famous people

1. “If you’re brave enough to say goodbye, life will reward you with a new hello.” - Paulo Coelho
2. “It is so hard to leave - until you leave. And then it is the easiest thing in the world.” – John Green
3. “Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.” - Semisonic
4. “Farewell! God knows when we shall meet again.” - William Shakespeare
5. “Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.” – Dr. Seuss
6. “It’s sad, but sometimes moving on with the rest of your life starts with goodbye.” – Carrie Underwood
7. “Great is the art of beginning, but greater is the art of ending.” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
8. “How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.” – A.A. Milne (the author of Winnie-the-Pooh)
9. “The pain of parting is nothing to the joy of meeting again.” – Charles Dickens

“Goodbye” quotes from movies

1. “In case I don’t see ya, good afternoon, good evening, and good night!” - from the movie The Truman Show
2. “No goodbye, you know I don't like goodbyes. See you later!” - from the movie John Q
3. “Life is filled with goodbyes, Eve, a million goodbyes, and it hurts every time.” - from the movie Eve’s Bayou
4. “There are no goodbyes for us, Charlie. Wherever you are, you will always be in my heart.” - from the movie Gandhi
5. “The hardest thing you'll ever learn is how to say goodbye.” - from the movie Dimension X

See you later, Alligator!

Now that you know how to say goodbye in many spoken, constructed, or even fantasy languages, you’re ready to make friends with people from around the world. And to be even more prepared to handle these conversations, we also encourage you to learn how to say hello in different languages.

We hope that this article has given you more confidence when it comes to saying farewell in Italian, Hindi, or even Valyrian! If you’d like to continue your language learning journey, check out this article on the best language learning methods or browse through other resources on our blog.