How to Say Hello & Thank You in Romanian (& Other Greetings)

Today, it’s time to hone up your Romanian language skills with some easy greetings and salutations that you will most likely use during your stay here, even if you’re only visiting for a few days.

I will teach you how to say “Hello” in Romanian, but also “Thank You” and various other similar short phrases that constantly pop up in day-to-day speaking.

These might help you when interacting with locals, give you bragging rights in front of your friends (“I speak Romanian!“) and maybe even twist your tongue a little, just for fun.

From learning to say Hello and Thank You in Romanian, to asking for directions and other things like that, just read on and take notes (or not – your choice).

It might sound difficult at first, but your Romanian friends or strangers will surely appreciate it. Don’t even worry too much about pronunciation, as all Romanians will understand what you’re trying to say and that’s all that matters! Let’s begin!

Help me keep Romania Experience alive. Become a Patreon supporter today! You can also read my article detailing the situation here. Thank you for your continued support!

Learn various greetings and salutations in Romanian

The Romanian language has plenty of greetings for various occasions/times of day, some more generic, some more formal. I will go through them below – you just pick the most suitable one(s).

How to say Hello in Romanian

We’ll start with the basic “Hello” or “Hi” which are somewhat gender-dependent (as strange as that might sound).

• Bună (boo-nah) – almost always used when greeting women.

• Salut (sah-loot) – generally used when greeting men.

Both of these are more informal. If you want to be a bit more formal and not worry about saying the wrong greeting to the wrong gender, you can stick to a regular “Good day” (see below) and other non-gender specific greetings:

• Bună dimineața (boo-nah dee-mee-nya-tsah) – Good morning

• Bună ziua (boo-nah zee-wah) – Good day and/or Good afternoon

• Bună seara (boo-nah seh-ah-rah) – Good evening

Saying Goodbye in Romanian

There are also various options you have, and I am listing them all below:

• Pa (pah) or Pa-pa (pah-pah) – Bye-bye (informal, works in most casual situations)
• La revedere (lah reh-veh-deh-reh) – Goodbye (formal)
• Pe curând (peh koo-rnd) – See you soon
• Noapte bună (noahp-teh boo-nah) – Good night
• O zi bună (oh zee boo-nah) – Have a nice day
• Ai grijă (eye gree-zhuh) – Take care

How to say Thank You in Romanian

Thank you = Mulțumesc (mool-tsu-mesk). You can also go with Mersi (like the French Merci), which is a bit more informal, but a lot easier to say. Both work well.

And the usual reply to these would be:

• Cu plăcere (koo pluh-cheh-reh) – You’re welcome.
• Cu drag (koo drahg) – This is becoming more popular nowadays, instead of the traditional “Cu placere.” It’s more personal in nature, but I am sure it will soon become the main way to respond.

Here are some more common phrases in Romanian

If you want to say even more things in Romanian, let’s try the ones below:

Basic Words

• Da (dah) – Yes
• Nu (noo) – No
• Poate (pwah-teh) – Maybe

Politeness and Daily Use

• Poftă bună! (pohf-tah boo-nah) – Bon appétit! / Enjoy your meal
• Scuze (skoo-zeh) – Sorry
• Îmi pare rău (uhm-ee pah-reh row) – I’m sorry
• Scuzați-mă / Mă scuzați (skoo-zahts-ee-muh / muh skoo-zahts) – Excuse me (the second one being more formal/polite)
• Te rog (teh rohg) – Please (informal)
• Vă rog (vuh rohg) – Please (formal)
• Ajutor! (ah-zhoo-tor) – Help!

Everyday Conversation

• Ce mai faci? (cheh my fahch) – How are you? (Basically, this translates as “what are you doing?” But this has become a greeting, basically asked immediately after saying “Hello” and it doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to get in depth with your answer).
• Ce faci? (cheh fahch) – What’s up?
• Încântat de cunoștință (uhn-kun-taht deh koo-noh-shteen-tsuh) – Nice to meet you (if you’re a man)
• Încântată de cunoștință (uhn-kun-taht-uh deh koo-noh-shteen-tsuh) – Nice to meet you (if you’re a woman)
• Îmi pare bine (uhm-ee pah-reh bee-neh) – Nice to meet you (neutral, informal)
• Noroc! (noh-rok) – Cheers! / Good luck!
• Mă numesc… (muh noo-mesk) – My name is…

Directions & Practical Questions

• Unde este baia? (oon-deh yeh-steh bye-ah) – Where is the toilet?
• Unde este stația de metrou? (oon-deh yeh-steh stah-tsyah deh meh-trow) – Where is the metro station?
• Unde este stația de autobuz? (oon-deh yeh-steh stah-tsyah deh ow-toh-booz) – Where is the bus station?
• Unde este stația de tramvai? (oon-deh yeh-steh stah-tsyah deh trahm-vai) – Where is the tram station?
• Unde este un bancomat? (oon-deh yeh-steh oon bahn-koh-maht) – Where is an ATM?

Special Occasions

• Bun venit (boon veh-neet) – Welcome
• Felicitări! (feh-lee-chee-tahr) -Congratulations!
• La mulți ani! (lah mool-tsi ahn) – Happy Birthday! / Happy New Year!

Now, we also have a recommendation from our reader Jim, an expat living in Romania for a while now, and sharing his own experience – which is very helpful:

One word that I find very useful, but not on your list is poftim. It seems this word has many, many uses, such as go right ahead or after you or pardon me.

It’s great for those situations when you wish to be polite, such as giving someone a seat on a bus or a place in line at the check out. This is a very good word for a non Romanian speaker and works well with appropriate gestures or body language.

However, occasionally I find someone will approach me assuming I can converse with them, but whatever they ask is far beyond my linguistic knowledge. For this I have learned to say, “Eu nu vorbesc limba Romana” (I don’t speak Romanian).

Wrapping up

OK… I’m all out of ideas right now, so let’s hope that it is enough for today and you have your basic greetings and phrases all in one place. You can also PIN this for later:

Now that you have vastly improved your Romanian language knowledge with all the words and phrases above (yes, I am joking!), you can go more in depth with some Romanian expressions that generally only make sense in this beautiful country.

Or you can go the safer route and learn how to say “I love you” – and other lover-related things, or just put on your holiday suit and learn how to say Merry Christmas in Romanian. Oh my, so many words!

Are there other words, greetings or expressions that you’re interested in? Let me know in the comment section below!