All the ways to say “Hi” and “Bye“ in Croatian

The greeting is a sign of respect, friendship, goodwill, and good wishes. It’s important to use verbal greetings when meeting or leaving someone in Croatia – greeting is a strong part of the Croatian culture, regardless of whether you know a person personally or not.

Thankfully, there are endless ways to greet someone in Croatian. People usually get the habit of using one greeting or several greetings they like the most. Sometimes they use a combination of two greetings or they repeat the same greeting twice.

We’re going to give you LOTS of options so you can adopt your own.

In this post, we cover:

• How to say “Hi”
• How to say “Bye”

The facts are these…

All the ways to say “Hi” and “Bye“ in Croatian

How to say “Hi” in Croatian

Phrase: Alo
Meaning: Hello

Phrase: Bog (Dalmatian dialect)
Meaning: Hi

Phrase: Bok
Meaning: Hi

Phrase: Bokić
Meaning: Hi (diminutive form)

Phrase: Ćao
Meaning: Hi

Phrase: Dobar dan
Meaning: Good afternoon

Phrase: Dobra večer
Meaning: Good evening

Phrase: Dobrodošla (feminine singular)
Dobrodošle (feminine plural)
Dobrodošao (masculine singular)
Dobrodošli (masculine plural when you want to greet a mixed group)
Meaning: Welcome

Phrase: Dobro jutro
Meaning: Good morning

Phrase: Ej
Meaning: Hey

Phrase: Haj
Meaning: Hi

Phrase: Halo
Meaning: Hello

Phrase: Hej
Meaning: Hey

Phrase: Oj
Meaning: Oi

Phrase: Pozdrav
Meaning: Regards

Phrase: Zdravo
Meaning: Hello

There are also ways to ask how someone is doing that are also used as rhetorical greetings. You can find those here.

How to say “Bye” in Croatian

Phrase: Adio
Meaning: Goodbye

Phrase: Adijo
Meaning: Goodbye

Phrase: Bog (Dalmatian dialect)
Meaning: Bye

Phrase: Bok
Meaning: Bye

Phrase: Bokić
Meaning: Bye (diminutive form)

Phrase: Budi dobro
Meaning: Stay well

Phrase: Ćao
Meaning: Bye

Phrase: Čujemo se
Meaning: Hear you

Phrase: Čuvaj se
Meaning: Take care

Phrase: Do sutra
Meaning: Until tomorrow

Phrase: Đenja (short form of Doviđenja)
Meaning: Goodbye

Phrase: Doviđenja
Meaning: Goodbye

Phrase: Laku noć
Meaning: Good night

Phrase: Lijep pozdrav
Meaning: Nice regards

Phrase: Noć (short form of Laku noć)
Meaning: Good night

Phrase: Ostani dobro
Meaning: Stay well

Phrase: Pazi (na) se
Meaning: Take care

Phrase: Pozdrav
Meaning: Regards

Phrase: Prijatno
Meaning: Pleasantly (literal translation)

Phrase: Pusa
Meaning: Kiss

Phrase: Srdačan pozdrav
Meaning: Warm regards

Phrase: Srdačno
Meaning: Warmly

Phrase: Sretno
Meaning: Good luck

Phrase: Ugodan dan
Meaning: Have a nice day

Phrase: Ugodan radni tjedan
Meaning: Have a nice working week

Phrase: Ugodan vikend
Meaning: Have a nice weekend

Phrase: Uživaj
Meaning: Enjoy (in singular)

Phrase: Uživajte
Meaning: Enjoy (in plural)

Phrase: Vidimo se
Meaning: See you

Phrase: Zbogom
Meaning: Goodbye

Phrase: Živio
Meaning: Cheers (in singular)

Phrase: Živjeli
Meaning: Cheers (in plural)

View our other Croatian vocabulary posts

• 14 Croatian words that change around the country
• Basic Croatian words and phrases to get through life in Croatia
• Croatian places with the suffix “-ica”
• Croatian vocabulary you might need at a restaurant or cafe in Croatia
• Exclamations for when you need to shout
• Holiday words and phrases
• How to ask how someone is doing
• How to ask where the toilet is in Croatian (and how to find public toilets throughout Croatia)
• How to tell time (in Zagreb, Split, Istria, and Dubrovnik)
• Immigration words and phrases
• Sledding and winter vocabulary