Greetings & Goodbyes

Esperanto Basic Conversation 1

Chapter 1 · Greetings & Goodbyes

👋 Greetings & Goodbyes — Salutoj kaj adiaŭoj

Welcome to your first Esperanto conversation lesson. By the end of this chapter you will be able to greet people at any time of day, ask how they are, say thank you, apologise and say goodbye. Esperanto has no formal and informal styles: the same words work for a friend, a stranger or a hotel receptionist. And because the spelling is phonetic and you already know the sounds from Esperanto Grammar 1, the dialogs carry no pronunciation line. The stress, always on the next-to-last syllable, is shown in the vocabulary table.

① Good Morning — Bonan matenon

A: Bonan matenon, Anna! Good morning, Anna!

B: Bonan matenon, Philip! Kiel vi fartas? Good morning, Philip! How are you?

A: Mi fartas bone, dankon. Kaj vi? I'm well, thank you. And you?

B: Mi ankaŭ fartas bone. I'm well too.

② Meeting a Friend — Saluton!

A: Saluton, Anna! Hello, Anna!

B: Saluton, Philip! Kiel vi fartas? Hello, Philip! How are you?

A: Bone, dankon. Kaj vi? Well, thanks. And you?

B: Ankaŭ bone! Well too!

③ Evening at the Hotel — Bonan vesperon

A: Bonan vesperon! Good evening! (Philip, arriving)

B: Bonan vesperon! Bonvenon! Good evening! Welcome!

A: Dankon! Thank you!

B: Nedankinde! Don't mention it!

④ Good Night — Bonan nokton

A: Bonan nokton! Good night!

B: Bonan nokton! Dolĉajn sonĝojn! Good night! Sweet dreams!

⑤ Excuse Me — Pardonu

A: Pardonu min! Excuse me!

B: Ne gravas. No problem.

A: Pardonon! Sorry!

B: Tute ne gravas! It really doesn't matter!

⑥ Saying Goodbye — Ĝis revido

A: Ĝis revido! Goodbye! (until we meet again)

B: Ĝis revido! Goodbye!

A: Ĝis morgaŭ, Anna! See you tomorrow, Anna!

B: Ĝis, Philip! Bye, Philip!

🗝️ Key Phrases — Gravaj frazoj

There is one vi for everybody, so there is no formal column here. Instead, the table gives the standard phrase and a shorter, friendly one you will hear among friends and at Esperanto gatherings.

Situation	Standard	Friendly / short
Good morning	Bonan matenon!	Saluton!
Hello (any time)	Saluton!	Hej!
Good day	Bonan tagon!	Saluton!
Good evening	Bonan vesperon!	Saluton!
Good night	Bonan nokton!	Dormu bone!
Goodbye	Ĝis revido!	Ĝis! / Ĝis baldaŭ!
How are you?	Kiel vi fartas?	Kiel vi?
Thank you	Dankon!	Koran dankon! (warm)
Please	Bonvolu … / Mi petas	Mi petas
You're welcome	Nedankinde!	Ne dankinde
Excuse me / Sorry	Pardonu (min)!	Pardonon!

Why the -n in Bonan matenon? Bonan matenon! is a shortened sentence: "(I wish you) a good morning". The wish is the object of the missing verb, so it takes the accusative -n you met in Esperanto Grammar 1, Chapter 2. That is why every Bonan … greeting ends in -n, and why you say Dankon ("[I give] thanks"), Pardonon and Bonvenon the same way.

🕐 Which Greeting When — Tagoparto

When	Say	Notes
Morning	Bonan matenon!	until about midday
Daytime	Bonan tagon!	the all-purpose greeting from midday on
Evening	Bonan vesperon!	from the early evening
Going to bed	Bonan nokton!	said as you part for the night
Any time	Saluton!	works in every situation

🎩 Titles and Names — Nomoj

Esperanto has no "tu"-versus-"vous" choice, so titles are optional and used mainly in formal writing and at congresses. The titles are sinjoro (Mr, sir) and sinjorino (Mrs, Ms, madam), and they come before the name. People mostly use first names. Names are kept as they are: you stay Philip (some Esperantists would write Filipo, but nobody will correct you).

Title	Meaning	Example
sinjoro	Mr, sir	Bonan tagon, sinjoro Kovács!
sinjorino	Mrs, Ms, madam	Bonan tagon, sinjorino Nagy!
(none)	friends and fellow Esperantists	Saluton, Anna!

🔤 Three Verbs for Greetings — Verboj

Here is the good news from Esperanto Grammar 1 at work: the verb never changes for person. The present tense always ends in -as, whoever is doing the verb.

	danki (to thank)	saluti (to greet)	farti (to fare, be)
mi (I)	dankas	salutas	fartas
vi (you)	dankas	salutas	fartas
li / ŝi (he / she)	dankas	salutas	fartas
ni (we)	dankas	salutas	fartas
vi (you, plural)	dankas	salutas	fartas
ili (they)	dankas	salutas	fartas

Build It — bona, bone, malbona From one root, bon-, you can already say bona (good), bone (well), malbona (bad) and bonvolu (please be so good as to). Notice the adjective-or-adverb choice: Mi fartas bone ("I fare well", with the adverb -e), but Bonan matenon ("a good morning", with the adjective -a describing the noun).

📖 Vocabulary — Vortaro

20 key words. The Stress column shows the stressed syllable in CAPITALS: always the next-to-last one.

#	Esperanto	Stress	English	Type
1	bona	BO-na	good	adj
2	bone	BO-ne	well	adv
3	mateno	ma-TE-no	morning	noun
4	tago	TA-go	day	noun
5	vespero	ve-SPE-ro	evening	noun
6	nokto	NOK-to	night	noun
7	saluton	sa-LU-ton	hello	phrase
8	ĝis	JIS	until; bye	phrase
9	revido	re-VI-do	seeing again	noun
10	dankon	DAN-kon	thank you	phrase
11	bonvolu	bon-VO-lu	please (be so kind)	verb
12	nedankinde	ne-dan-KIN-de	you're welcome	phrase
13	pardonu	par-DO-nu	excuse (me)	verb
14	kiel	KI-el	how	adv
15	fartas	FAR-tas	fares; is (in health)	verb
16	jes	YES	yes	phrase
17	ne	NE	no; not	phrase
18	kaj	KAJ	and	conj
19	sinjoro	sin-YO-ro	Mr; gentleman	noun
20	sinjorino	sin-yo-RI-no	Mrs; lady	noun

Real Esperanto Tip — Ĝis and Its Family Ĝis means "until", so each goodbye says what you are waiting for: Ĝis revido (until we see each other again), Ĝis morgaŭ (until tomorrow), Ĝis baldaŭ (until soon). Learn the pattern and you can invent more: Ĝis lundo (until Monday). The word Adiaŭ is a final "farewell", so save it for when you do not expect to meet again.

Saluton Is Half a Sentence Saluton is the accusative of saluto ("a greeting"), so it is the same wish-pattern as Bonan tagon: "(I send you) a greeting". It was one of the first phrases in Zamenhof's 1887 booklet and it has been in use ever since.

✍️ Try It Yourself — Ekzercoj

Say each answer out loud first, then click to check.

1. It is morning and you meet a colleague. What do you say?

Show answer

Bonan matenon! (or just Saluton!)

2. A friend asks how you are. Reply, and ask back.

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Mi fartas bone, dankon. Kaj vi?

3. How do you say "How are you?" to your boss, and how to your best friend?

Show answer

The same way for both: Kiel vi fartas? Esperanto has only one vi.

4. You bump into someone on the bus. What do you say?

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Pardonu min! or Pardonon!

5. Say goodbye until tomorrow, and then "until Monday" (lundo = Monday).

Show answer

Ĝis morgaŭ! · Ĝis lundo!

6. What do you say to someone who says Dankon! to you?

Show answer

Nedankinde!

Coming Up in Chapter 2 Introducing yourself: Mia nomo estas … ("my name is"), Mi nomiĝas …, Mi estas … ("I am") and Kiel vi nomiĝas? ("what are you called?"), with the verb esti ("to be") in use.