How do you say hello in Dutch?

The most useful greetings are 'Hallo' (neutral hello), 'Hoi' (casual hi), and the time-of-day greetings 'Goedemorgen' (good morning), 'Goedemiddag' (good afternoon) and 'Goedenavond' (good evening).

When do you use jij or u in Dutch?

Use 'jij' (informal you) with friends and colleagues you know, and 'u' (formal you) with strangers, older people, clients and in formal service situations. When unsure, start with u and switch to jij if the other person does.

How do you say thank you in Dutch?

'Dank je wel' is the informal thank you and 'Dank u wel' is the formal version. 'Bedankt' is a common, slightly more casual way to say thanks.

Learn › Greetings and polite phrases

Essential Dutch greetings and polite phrases

These are the phrases that get you through day one in the Netherlands: how to say hello, thank you, and handle a short friendly exchange, plus when to use jij versus u.

Greetings

Dutch	English	When
Hallo	Hello	neutral, anytime
Hoi	Hi	casual
Goedemorgen	Good morning	until ~noon
Goedemiddag	Good afternoon	afternoon
Goedenavond	Good evening	evening
Dag / Tot ziens	Goodbye	leaving

Please, thank you, sorry

Alsjeblieft / Alstublieft, please (informal / formal), also “here you go”
Dank je wel / Dank u wel, thank you (informal / formal)
Bedankt, thanks
Sorry / Pardon, sorry / excuse me
Geen probleem, no problem

A short friendly exchange

A: Goedemorgen, hoe gaat het?, Good morning, how are you?
B: Goed, dank je. En met jou?, Fine, thanks. And you?
A: Ook goed. Tot straks!, Fine too. See you later!

Jij or u? The one social rule to know

Dutch has two words for “you”. Choosing between them is about relationship, not grammar difficulty:

jij (or the unstressed je), informal, for friends, family and colleagues you know.
u, formal, for strangers, older people, clients, officials and formal service situations.

When in doubt, start with u and switch to jij once the other person does. In most relaxed workplaces, colleagues use jij with each other quickly.

Keep going

Greetings are the easiest early win because you use them every single day. Once these feel automatic, the next step is introducing yourself and handling simple questions, which is exactly where the lessons and student course starts.

Learn the next phrases in context

Lessons and the student course build from greetings to real conversations, with audio on the pronunciation module.

Book a lesson → Book a lesson