Greetings
The opening line carries more weight in Arabic than in English. Choose the wrong one and the rest of the conversation tilts.
Arabic greetings split along two axes that English does not really track: religious vs. secular, and formal vs. casual. The religious greeting السلام عليكم is the safest opener with anyone older than you, anyone you don't know, anyone you're meeting in a professional setting, and anyone in a more conservative environment — a mosque, a village, a government office. It is not exclusively Muslim; Arab Christians use and receive it routinely, and so do most foreigners. The secular alternatives — مرحبا, أهلاً, and the dialect openers — are warmer in feeling but less formally weighted. None of them is wrong; the choice signals what kind of interaction you are starting.
The second thing English speakers tend to miss is that greetings expect a specific reply, often a longer or more elaborate one than the opener. Saying marHaba and getting marHabtayn ("two hellos") back is a small, set exchange — the responder is performatively topping you. This is the texture of Arabic small talk: an opener is an invitation to a short volley of pleasantries before the actual conversation starts. Skipping straight to business, even in a shop, can feel abrupt.
The religious greeting
Peace be upon you
السلام عليكم
as-salaamu ʿalaykum
The default formal greeting. Used across the Arab world, by Muslims and Christians, and in nearly every register from a meeting to a market. Always plural (ʿalay-kum) even to one person.
And upon you, peace
وعليكم السلام
wa-ʿalaykum as-salaam
The required reply. Reversing word order is the whole reply — say it back the same way every time.
…and the mercy of God and His blessings
وعليكم السلام ورحمة الله وبركاته
wa-ʿalaykum as-salaam wa-raHmatu llaahi wa-barakaatuh
A more elaborate reply, used among practising Muslims and in religious settings. Foreigners are not expected to produce it — the short reply above is fine.
Secular greetings — MSA and pan-Arab
Hello
مرحبا
marHaba
Universally understood. Slightly warmer than as-salaamu ʿalaykum in most settings; less formal but never rude.
Hello (response)
مرحبتين
marHabtayn
Literally "two hellos." A standard reply that performatively returns more than was given. Echoing back marHaba works too, just flatter.
Hi / welcome
أهلاً
ahlan
Casual, friendly. Often doubled to ahlan ahlan for warmth, or extended to ahlan wa sahlan ("welcome" — said to a guest or arrival).
Welcome
أهلاً وسهلاً
ahlan wa sahlan
Said by the host to the guest, by the shopkeeper to the customer, by anyone to anyone arriving. The reply is ahlan biik (m.) / biiki (f.).
Time of day
Arabic divides the day into morning and evening for greeting purposes — there is no separate "good afternoon." Use the morning form roughly until the early afternoon and switch to the evening form sometime after the sun is past its peak. The form is symmetric: someone says X, you reply with the matching Y.
Good morning
صباح الخير
SabaaH al-khayr
Literally "morning of goodness." Universal across MSA and dialects.
Good morning (reply)
صباح النور
SabaaH an-nuur
"Morning of light." The expected reply — mismatching the two will sound strange.
Good morning (warmer reply)
صباح الفل / صباح الورد
SabaaH il-full / SabaaH il-ward
"Morning of jasmine / of roses." Egyptian and Levantine flourishes; affectionate, used among friends and family.
Good evening
مساء الخير
masaa' al-khayr
Used from afternoon onward, well into the night.
Good evening (reply)
مساء النور
masaa' an-nuur
Egyptian
How are you? (m. / f.)
إزيك / إزيِك
ezzayak / ezzayek
The standard Egyptian "how are you." The ending changes for the listener's gender — getting this wrong is the most common slip for English speakers.
How's it going?
إيه الأخبار؟
eeh il-akhbaar?
Literally "what's the news." Casual; the answer is almost always kullu tamaam ("all good") regardless of actual state.
Welcome (Egyptian)
أهلاً بيك / بيكي
ahlan biik / biiki
Levantine (Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Palestine)
How are you? (m. / f.)
كيفك؟
kiifak / kiifik
The Levantine staple. Pronounced with a soft k; in Lebanon the question often slides into kiifak Habiibii as a friendly tag.
Hi (very casual)
مرحبا
marHaba
In Levantine speech this is the default casual greeting, used the way English speakers use "hi."
Welcome
يا هلا / أهلين
yaa hala / ahlayn
Gulf (Saudi, UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman)
How are you? (m. / f.)
شلونك؟ / شلونچ؟
shloonak / shloonich
Literally "what colour are you." The feminine ending -ich (with a ch sound) is distinctive of much Gulf speech and surprises learners coming from Egyptian or Levantine.
How's it going?
شخبارك؟
shakhbaarak?
Welcome / hi
هلا والله
hala wallaah
Warm Gulf greeting, often used as a reply to as-salaamu ʿalaykum in casual settings.
Maghrebi (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia)
How are you? / are you well?
لاباس؟
labas?
From "no harm." Used both as a greeting and as a reply — labas, al-Hamdu lillaah.
How are you (Moroccan)
كي داير؟ / كي دايرة؟
ki daayar / ki daayra
Hi (Tunisian, Algerian)
عسلامة
ʿaslaama
A contraction of ʿalaa s-salaama. Functions as both hello and goodbye in casual Tunisian and parts of Algeria.
The "how are you" volley
Whichever dialect you are in, the answer to "how are you" is almost always الحمد لله (al-Hamdu lillaah, "praise be to God") — a non-committal, all-purpose response that does not actually report on your state. English speakers used to "fine, thanks" sometimes try to give a more specific answer; this is fine, but the religious tag is so default that omitting it can read as cold. After al-Hamdu lillaah, you bounce the question back: winta? / winti? in Egyptian, winte? / winti? in Levantine, winta? / winti? generally.
The handshake and the cheek-kiss
Greetings have a physical component that varies by region, gender, and degree of religiosity. We cover this on a separate page — see hospitality — because the phrasing is only half of what is happening.
Common mistakes
- Mismatching gender endings. kiifak to a woman or kiifik to a man is a small but immediately audible error. If you cannot tell or do not remember, kiif il-Haal ("how is the state") is gender-neutral and safe.
- Treating as-salaamu ʿalaykum as religious-only. It is not. Christians use it; secular Arabs use it; foreigners are welcome to use it. Avoiding it where it would be natural can come across as standoffish.
- Mixing morning and evening forms. Replying masaa' an-nuur to SabaaH al-khayr is the small linguistic equivalent of a stumble. Match the form.
- Skipping the volley. One round of "hi, how are you, fine, and you, fine, praise God" is the minimum before getting to whatever you actually wanted to say.