Bear in mind that many Swiss are multilingual. German is a good bet anywhere in the country, but you may be able to get by with French, Italian, or English regardless of the region.

Look at signs, notices, and advertisements. If most of the public notices are written in German, then you should probably try speaking German. If most of the notices are written in French, then you should try speaking French. If you are preparing to meet someone for the first time, consider his or her name. If his name is Pierre, there’s a good chance that he hails from a French-speaking region. If his name is Klaus, then it might be safe to assume that he speaks German.

Hoi/Salü/Sali: “Hi”, more informal than Grüetzi. “Hoy”, “Saloo”, “Salee”. Hoi zäme: “Hi” to more than one person. “Hoy zah-may”. Ciao (the same as the Italian “Ciao”, pronounced “chow”)

“Gueten Morgen!”: “Good morning!” Pronounced “Goo-eh-ten more-gen” (“gen” pronounced with a hard “G”). In some areas, German-speakers use “guetä Morgä,” with the shortcut “Morgä” or “Morge” (differs from canton to canton). This is usually used until about noon. In some areas of Germany, it is only said until 10 a. m. “Guetä Tag!”: “Good day!” Pronounced “Goo-eh-ta togg”. This phrase is usually said between the hours of noon and 6 p. m. “Gueten Abig. “: “Good evening. " Pronounced “Goo-eh-ten ah-beeg”. This greeting is usually used after 6 p. m.

Even though salut is an interjection used to greet people, it is related to the French verb “saluer,” meaning “to greet” or “to salute. " Another informal greeting using this term would be “Salut tout le monde!” Roughly translated, it means “Hello, everybody!” The term “tout” means “all” and “le monde” means “the world. " This greeting would only be used amongst a group of close friends.

“Bon” means “good”, and “soir” means “evening”. One way to greet a crowd of people in the evening is to state, “Bonsoir mesdames et messieurs,” meaning, “Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. " Pronounce it, “bon-swar meh-dahms et meh-sures. "

Note that “ciao” can also mean “good-bye,” depending on the context. Make it clear that you are greeting the person and not saying farewell.

Like ciao, salve can also be used to say “good-bye” depending on the context.

Say “buongiorno” in the morning. This phrase translates into “good morning” or “good day. ” Pronounce buongiorno as “bwohn jor-noh. " Say “buon pomeriggio” in the afternoon. That’s “bwohn poh-meh-ree-joh. " This phrase can be used to say “good afternoon” as a greeting or farewell after noon. Note that you may still hear buongiorno in the afternoon, but buon pomeriggio is slightly more common and more accurate. “Buon pomeriggio” is a lot more formal than “buongiorno” Use “buonasera” in the evening. After roughly 4 PM, the polite way to greet or bid farewell to someone is with buonasera. Pronounce buonasera as “bwoh-nah seh-rah. "

Romansh is also spelled as Romansh, Romantsch, Rhaeto-Romance, or Rheto-Romanic. About half of all native Rumantsch speakers have emigrated towards the industrialized cities of German speaking northern Switzerland. In this sense, Zurich has become the town with the most Rumantsch speakers. However, most Rumantsch-speaking city dwellers habitually speak German out of convenience. [15] X Research source The language comes from what “vulgar Latin” or “people’s Latin,” with influences from Etruscan, Celtic, and other languages spoken by early settlers in the mountain valleys of what are now the Grisons and Italy’s South Tirol. Romansh was included as a Swiss national language in 1938. Thus, base your pronunciations on Latin pronunciations.

Pronounce allegra as “ah-leg-ruh”. Pronounce “ciao” as “chow”. Pronounce “tgau” as “gow”.

“Bun di” means “good morning. " Pronounce it “boon dee”. “Buna saira” means “good afternoon or “good evening”. Pronounce it “boon-a serra”.