Good morning in German · with audio

Good Morning in German: Guten Morgen, Morgen, and Moin

Good morning

Guten Morgen

Good morning in German is Guten Morgen. It is formal enough for a hotel reception and normal enough for the kitchen at home. Between colleagues and friends, most people shorten it to a single word: Morgen! In the north of Germany you will hear Moin instead, and it works all day, not only in the morning.

The list below has the ways to say good morning, how to answer when someone says it to you, and the small rules that learners ask about: until what time you can say it, why Morgen also means tomorrow, and how to pronounce the g at the end. Every phrase has audio.

Ways to say good morning in German

Guten Morgen is the full form and is always correct. The shorter and regional forms are what you hear in daily life, so it helps to recognize them even if you do not use them yourself.

German	English	Note
Guten Morgen The standard form, formal and informal	Good morning	The standard form, formal and informal
Morgen! Clipped and informal, between colleagues, friends, and family	Morning!	Clipped and informal, between colleagues, friends, and family
Moin Northern Germany. Used all day, not only in the morning	Good morning, hello	Northern Germany. Used all day, not only in the morning
Moin, Moin A friendlier double Moin, also northern	Good morning, hello	A friendlier double Moin, also northern
Schönen guten Morgen Warm and a little playful	A lovely good morning	Warm and a little playful
Guten Morgen zusammen When you enter a room or an office	Good morning everyone	When you enter a room or an office
Guten Morgen allerseits A little more formal than zusammen, common in meetings	Good morning to all	A little more formal than zusammen, common in meetings
Gut geschlafen? The usual follow-up at home or with guests	Did you sleep well?	The usual follow-up at home or with guests
Einen schönen Tag Said when parting in the morning, after the greeting	Have a nice day	Said when parting in the morning, after the greeting

How to reply to Guten Morgen

The normal reply is the same greeting back. If someone asks whether you slept well, a short answer and the same question returned is enough.

German	English	Note
Guten Morgen! Say the same greeting back	Good morning!	Say the same greeting back
Morgen! The informal reply to an informal Morgen	Morning!	The informal reply to an informal Morgen
Moin! The reply to Moin in the north	Morning!	The reply to Moin in the north
Ja, danke. Und du? The reply to Gut geschlafen?	Yes, thanks. And you?	The reply to Gut geschlafen?
Ja, sehr gut, danke.	Yes, very well, thanks.
Nicht so gut, leider.	Not so well, unfortunately.
Danke, gleichfalls The reply to Einen schönen Tag	Thanks, same to you	The reply to Einen schönen Tag

Example sentences

Guten Morgen, Frau Schneider!
Good morning, Mrs. Schneider!
Morgen! Gut geschlafen?
Morning! Did you sleep well?
Guten Morgen zusammen, fangen wir an.
Good morning everyone, let us begin.
Moin! Ein Kaffee zum Mitnehmen, bitte.
Morning! One coffee to go, please.
Schönen guten Morgen, mein Schatz.
A lovely good morning, my darling.
Guten Morgen und einen schönen Tag noch!
Good morning and have a nice day!

Good to know

Until what time can you say Guten Morgen?

Until about 10 or 11 in the morning. After that, switch to Guten Tag. There is no strict rule, and people often say Guten Morgen to the first colleague they see even at noon, but at a shop counter in the afternoon it sounds odd. Hallo is safe at any hour.

Morgen also means tomorrow

The noun der Morgen means the morning. The adverb morgen means tomorrow. Context makes it clear: Morgen! on its own is a greeting, Bis morgen means see you tomorrow, and morgen früh means tomorrow morning. The greeting takes a capital letter because it is the noun.

Moin works all day

In Hamburg, Bremen, and along the coast, Moin is the everyday greeting from breakfast until late at night. It does not come from Morgen, so nobody will laugh if you say it at 8 pm. Outside the north it marks you as a visitor from the coast, which people find charming.

Pronunciation

Guten Morgen is GOO-ten MOR-gen. The g in Morgen is a hard g as in "go", never soft. The r is a soft sound in the back of the throat, and many speakers barely pronounce it, so Morgen can sound like MOH-gen. Press play above to hear the standard version.

Guten Morgen is enough for formal situations

There is no more formal version. Adding the person's name and title makes it polite: Guten Morgen, Herr Doktor Weber. Do not add Sie or anything else. The greeting is the same at a bank, at a job interview, and at the breakfast table.

Practice with flashcards

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Frequently Asked Questions

How do you say good morning in German?

Guten Morgen. Between friends and colleagues it is often shortened to Morgen, and in northern Germany people say Moin.

Is it Guten Morgen or Guten Tag?

Guten Morgen until about 10 or 11 in the morning, then Guten Tag for the rest of the day until the evening, when it becomes Guten Abend. Hallo works at any time.

How do you respond to Guten Morgen?

Say Guten Morgen back. If the other person said the short form Morgen, you can answer Morgen. Adding wie geht es Ihnen or wie geht es dir (how are you) makes it friendlier.

Why do Germans just say Morgen?

It is the clipped, informal form of Guten Morgen, like saying morning instead of good morning in English. It is common at work and at home but a little casual for a stranger.

What does Moin mean?

Moin is the northern German greeting for hello, used at any time of day. It probably comes from an old word for good or pleasant, not from Morgen, which is why it works in the evening too.

Does Morgen mean morning or tomorrow?

Both. With a capital letter, der Morgen is the morning and Morgen! is the greeting. With a small letter, morgen means tomorrow, as in Bis morgen (see you tomorrow).

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