The most common way of saying ‘hello’ in Danish is the very simple hej (pronounced just like the English ‘hi’).

You can say this in almost any situation: being introduced to a work colleague or in-law, saying hello to a child, or meeting up with a friend you’ve known for years.

In many cases, you’ll add their name afterwards, especially if you want to emphasise a close relation to them or make it clear you’re pleased to see them: hej Kathrine! Det er mega længe siden! (‘Hi Kathrine! It’s been such a long time!).

In other situations, you can follow up the hej with your own name. This applies mostly to more formal situations where you’re being introduced to someone for the first time. In this case, you can offer them a handshake and say hej, Mike (replacing ‘Mike’ with your own name, obviously) and they will reply in kind with their own name. Try to make a mental note of it!

Keep in mind that Danes usually introduce themselves by their first name only, unlike in the US, for example, where it’s common for people to introduce themselves using their full name.

You can also just say hej. This is a catch-all term that you can use in most situations, and is handy if saying hello to a group of people or someone you don’t know, like a cafe barista or a shop assistant.

Given how useful and broad hej is, you could be forgiven for thinking no other words were needed to say hello in Danish, but there are plenty of options if you want to diversify.

We can start with the ones that relate to the time of day: godmorgen, god formiddag, godeftermiddag, godaften and godnat, meaning good morning, good forenoon, good afternoon, good evening and good night, respectively.

Only godnat applies literally (i.e. when you’re saying ‘goodnight’ because you’re going to bed). Each of the others can be used at whichever time of the day they correspond to. They are all more polite than hej, but you can say godmorgen casually – for example, when arriving at work. The others tend to have more formal connotations.

Moving on, the outdated hvordan går det? and the easier hva’ så? are the closest thing Danish has to the easy going, Australian-style ‘how’s it going?’ way of greeting someone. 

As well as being a bit antiquated, the former only really works after an initial hej, and therefore struggles to fit the criteria of being a greeting. On the other hand, a well-placed hva’ så? can make you sound pretty fluent, since it is borderline slang. Be sure to only use it informally with someone you know well, or it might come across as being out of place.

This leaves us with the more left-field options when it comes to Danish greetings, namely hejsa, halløj and mojn.

The first of these is a more disarming and friendly version of hej, and is best suited to saying hello to children or in situations where you want to come across as unguarded. 

Halløj carries a heavy subtext of self-irony and should be reserved for people you know well. Think showing up to a study group (perhaps as the last person to get there) or a family gathering where you last saw everyone quite recently. You can also extend the øj to make halløøøøøj!, which might even raise a chuckle or two. Use this when you expect your arrival or the situation to carry an atmosphere of joviality.

Mojn is not a greeting you’ll hear many foreigners say, neither are you likely to hear the majority of Danes utter it. Go to South Jutland, on the other hand, and it’ll be everywhere and you can feel free to throw it out with abandon.

Sometimes written as moin, it is a direct substitute for hej in these parts (although you can still say hej if you want to). The word itself is influenced by north German dialects and you will hear it as far from Denmark as Hamburg.

Its use is part of South Jutland’s regional identity, so using it in the right way can show your appreciation of local culture.

One final tip: avoid saying ‘hello’ in Danish-speaking situations, if you can. Danes tend to use a Danish pronunciation of ‘hello’, which is spelled hallo, as a way of getting someone’s attention. So rather than being a greeting, calling out ‘hello!’ is a bit like shouting ‘oi!’ or ‘hey!’ at someone (i.e. rude). Stick to ‘hi’ if you’re in doubt.

Are there any Danish greetings we left out of the list? Which ones are your favourites? How do you say hi in Danish? Let us know in the comments.