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How to Say Good Afternoon in German

When greeting one another in Germany you will most likely see most people hand shaking and cheek kissing. In almost all situations hand shaking will suffice holding off on cheek kissing for family or people you know well.

When greeting someone in the afternoon, past 12:00 pm, you want to greet them with a “Good Afternoon.” you would say “Guten Nachmittag.”. Although this would be considered proper translation for Good Afternoon, “Good day.” or “Guten Tag.” Is usually used in place of it. This is because the afternoon is viewed to end at 5pm, then it is evening time and translation would have to change again.

Germans have a strong sense of community, so when visiting you want to make sure you know how to speak to them and be as caring and polite as possible.

Examples of how to say good afternoon in German

“Guten Nachmittag, Klasse. Bitte öffnen Sie Ihre Bücher auf Seite 125.”
“Good afternoon, Class. Please open your books to page 125.”

“Guten Nachmittag, Sir, wie geht es Ihnen?”
“Good afternoon , Sir, How are you today?”

“Guten Tag, hast du die Zeit?”
“Good afternoon, do you have the time?”