Thread: Hello, hi, good afternoon...

Hello My question is about greetings
As far as I know, "Hello", "Hi" are informal (familiar?) greetings; at this time "Good morning/afternoon/evening" are more official and applicable in "serious" conversations. But how shall I put it, if I don't know, what time is now in place, where my interlocutor stays (locates?)?

И ещё раз то же самое У меня вопрос про приветствия
Как я понимаю, "Hello" и "Hi" являются неформальными приветствиями; в то же время, "Good morning/afternoon/evening" более официальные и применимы в "серьёзных" разговорах. Но как я должен говорить, если я не знаю, сколько сейчас времени в том месте, где находится мой собеседник?

Hello - разве неформальное...?

Не знаю, поэтому и спросил

На мой неанглийский взгляд,
hello = здравствуй, и так так в английском все говорят только на Вы, то "-те".
hi = привет,
Good ... = Добрый ...

"Hello" is fine for all occasions, even "hi" is almost always acceptable (that is, it's normally OK to use even when you are talking to someone in a formal situation).

"Good morning/afternoon/evening" would generally be considered a little more polite and respectful, but any of these greetings can be used more-or-less interchangeably.

I sometimes say "hi" to my bosses and lecturers, and I also sometimes say "morning" or "afternoon" (the word "good" is often omitted in informal situations) to my close friends.

I think the rules regarding formality/informality are much less rigid in English than in Russian.

edit: actually, if you're talking about written communication here, don't use "hi" as a formal greeting, use "hello" instead.

qza, спасибо
Demonic_Duck, thank you very much for your exhaustive explanation

If you stop and talk to someone, at least in my experience, you rarely say good morning, good afternoon, or good evening. Those are more like if you are passing someone and you smile and make eye contact, you say "morning" and keep walking by. If you are stopping to talk to someone, you would usually say "hi/hello, how are you?" instead, but it's up to personal preference. You can say "hi" in either situation, though. I'd also say that "good morning" is much more common than "good afternoon" and "good evening;" I often say "good morning" in the morning, but I literally never say "good afternoon" or "good evening." Just my two cents. This seems like it can vary greatly between English-speaking regions, but if you're in New Jersey/New York, this is generally how it's done.