Common Nepali Greetings: How to Use Namaste and Beyond

Every guidebook tells you नमस्ते (namaste) means hello. Fewer tell you it also means goodbye, good morning, good evening, and "nice to meet you," all with the same word and the same gesture: palms pressed together at chest height, a light bow of the head. That single greeting covers more ground than any English equivalent. But namaste is also where most learners stop, and stopping there means missing the half-dozen everyday greetings Nepalis actually reach for depending on who they're talking to and what time it is.

नमस्ते and नमस्कार: one gesture, two levels

नमस्ते (namaste) works in almost any situation: meeting a shopkeeper, greeting a friend's parents, saying hello to a trekking guide. It's neutral, warm, and safe with strangers of any age.

नमस्कार (namaskar) is its more formal cousin. You'll hear it on the radio, from a news anchor, or from someone addressing a large group or a person of real seniority, a village elder, a government official, a respected teacher. The gesture is identical: hands together, fingertips near the chin, a small bow. The difference is register, not meaning. Think of it the way "hello" sits next to "good day, everyone" in English: same intent, different formality.

Both words work at any time of day. Unlike English, Nepali doesn't split greetings into "good morning" and "good evening" as a default. Namaste at 7am and namaste at 7pm are both completely normal.

The gesture itself has weight beyond politeness. Pressing the palms together at chest level is meant to acknowledge the divine in the other person, a nod to the greeting's Sanskrit root, namaskar, which breaks down roughly as "I bow to you." That's why it works across religious lines in Nepal, among Hindus, Buddhists, and plenty of secular Nepalis alike; the gesture has become social rather than strictly devotional over the centuries, the way "goodbye" in English quietly carries a fossilized "God be with you" that nobody consciously means anymore. You don't need to think about any of that to use it correctly. Just know that the slight bow isn't decorative, it's doing real communicative work, and skipping it while saying the word flatly changes the tone more than skipping a handshake would in the West.

Asking how someone is: तपाईंलाई कस्तो छ? and सञ्चै?

Once the greeting itself is out of the way, Nepalis usually follow up by asking how you are, and the phrasing shifts sharply with formality.

तपाईंलाई कस्तो छ? (tapailai kasto cha?, how are you?) is the polite, complete version, built on तपाईं, the respectful "you." Use it with someone older, a host, a teacher, or anyone you're meeting for the first time in a formal setting.

सञ्चै? (sanchai?) is the casual shortcut friends use with each other. It literally leans on the idea of being well, and it functions almost like English "you good?" tossed off between two people who already know each other. You'll hear it constantly among students and young adults in Kathmandu, usually with a rising, breezy tone.

Common replies keep the exchange short:

Nepali	Romanization	Meaning
तपाईंलाई कस्तो छ?	tapailai kasto cha?	How are you? (formal)
सञ्चै?	sanchai?	You good? (casual)
सञ्चै छु	sanchai chu	I'm well
ठिकै छ	thikai cha	It's okay / so-so
तपाईंलाई नि?	tapailai ni?	And you?

That last one, तपाईंलाई नि?, is worth memorizing on its own. Tacking नि onto a question is the standard Nepali way of bouncing a question back, the equivalent of English "and you?" after someone asks how you're doing.

There's a middle option too, for when सञ्चै? feels too casual but तपाईंलाई कस्तो छ? feels stiff: तिमीलाई कस्तो छ? (timilai kasto cha?), built on तिमी, the mid-level "you" reserved for people you know reasonably well but aren't fully informal with, a cousin, a coworker close in age, a classmate you're not yet close friends with. Getting तँ, तिमी, and तपाईं sorted out is a bigger topic than greetings alone can cover, but knowing that a mid-level "how are you" exists means you're not stuck choosing between two extremes every time you open your mouth.

Meeting, leaving, and sitting down to eat

Greetings don't stop at hello. Nepali has a specific phrase for almost every transition point in a social interaction, and skipping them can feel abrupt even when your grammar is otherwise fine.

When you first meet someone, तपाईंलाई भेटेर खुसी लाग्यो (tapailai bhetera khusi laagyo, nice to meet you) is the standard line, usually said right after the namaste and handshake or bow. It's a touch formal, which is exactly the point: first meetings call for it.

Leaving has its own vocabulary, and picking the wrong one changes the tone. फेरि भेटौंला (pheri bhetaula, see you again) is warm and open-ended, appropriate for a new acquaintance or someone you'll likely run into again but haven't made concrete plans with. भोलि भेटौंला (bholi bhetaula, see you tomorrow) is the version for someone you have a specific plan with. And namaste itself works as a plain goodbye too, so if in doubt, it never lands wrong.

At the table, Nepali doesn't have a direct equivalent of "bon appétit," but hosts often say खानुहोस् (khanuhos, please eat) as they set food down, and guests typically wait for that cue before starting. Saying धन्यवाद (dhanyabad, thank you) after a meal, especially to a host who cooked, is expected and genuinely appreciated, more so than after small everyday favors, where Nepalis often just nod instead of voicing thanks out loud.

Two more farewells round out the set. राम्रोसँग जानुहोस् (raamro sanga januhos, go well / travel safely) is what a host says as you head out the door, especially before a journey; it carries a small extra weight of care that a plain namaste doesn't. And शुभ रात्री (shubha raatri, good night) is the one time-specific farewell that does exist in Nepali, reserved for the moment people actually part ways to sleep rather than a general evening greeting.

"नमस्ते! तपाईंलाई कस्तो छ?" "सञ्चै छु, धन्यवाद। तपाईंलाई नि?" "म पनि ठिकै छु। भोलि भेटौंला!"

("Namaste! Tapailai kasto cha?" "Sanchai chu, dhanyabad. Tapailai ni?" "Ma pani thikai chu. Bholi bhetaula!")

("Hello! How are you?" "I'm well, thank you. And you?" "I'm okay too. See you tomorrow!")

Formal versus informal: who gets which greeting

Nepali greetings track the same respect ladder that runs through the whole language. With elders, teachers, government officials, or anyone you're meeting for the first time in a professional context, default to नमस्कार and तपाईंलाई कस्तो छ?, and let the other person set a more casual tone if they want to.

With peers, classmates, or friends your own age, नमस्ते and सञ्चै? are completely normal and expected; using the more formal versions with a close friend can actually sound stiff or distant, the opposite of the effect you want.

Strangers on the street sit in between. A namaste to a shopkeeper or a fellow passenger on a bus is polite and doesn't require the full formal treatment, but the gesture, palms together, should stay unless your hands are genuinely full. Skipping the gesture entirely while saying the word out loud reads as slightly careless, though nobody will call it out directly. If you want the fuller picture of how Nepali marks respect beyond greetings, essential Nepali phrases for travelers covers हजुर, a related word that does similar social work in questions and answers.

Situation	Greeting	How are you?
Elder, teacher, official, first meeting	नमस्कार (namaskar)	तपाईंलाई कस्तो छ?
Coworker, cousin, casual acquaintance	नमस्ते (namaste)	तिमीलाई कस्तो छ?
Close friend, sibling, someone your own age	नमस्ते (namaste)	सञ्चै?
Stranger, shopkeeper, bus passenger	नमस्ते (namaste)	usually skipped entirely

Read down that table and a pattern emerges: the greeting word itself barely changes, नमस्ते covers three of four rows, but the follow-up question tightens or loosens depending entirely on who's standing in front of you. That's the real skill to build, not memorizing a longer list of hellos.

Festival greetings: what people say during Dashain and Tihar

Nepal's two biggest festivals, दशैं (Dashain) and तिहार (Tihar), come with their own greeting vocabulary layered on top of everyday hellos.

During Dashain, elders bless younger family members with टीका (tika, a mix of rice, yogurt, and vermillion applied to the forehead) and जमरा (jamara, sprouted barley shoots tucked behind the ear), and the standard well-wish exchanged around this is दशैंको शुभकामना (dashain ko shubhakamana, happy Dashain / Dashain wishes). During Tihar, the parallel greeting is तिहारको शुभकामना (tihar ko shubhakamana, happy Tihar).

शुभकामना (shubhakamana) on its own just means "good wishes" or "best wishes," and it isn't limited to these two festivals. You'll hear जन्मदिनको शुभकामना (janmadin ko shubhakamana, happy birthday) and नयाँ वर्षको शुभकामना (naya barsha ko shubhakamana, happy new year) built the same way: [occasion] + को शुभकामना. Learn that pattern once and you can greet people appropriately at almost any Nepali celebration.

Putting it together in a real exchange

Here's a slightly longer dialogue that strings several of these together the way a real conversation would, moving from a first meeting to a warm goodbye:

"नमस्कार! तपाईंलाई भेटेर खुसी लाग्यो।" "नमस्ते! मलाई पनि खुसी लाग्यो। तपाईंलाई कस्तो छ?" "सञ्चै छु, धन्यवाद। आज दशैंको शुभकामना!" "धन्यवाद! तपाईंलाई पनि। फेरि भेटौंला।"

("Namaskar! Tapailai bhetera khusi laagyo." "Namaste! Malai pani khusi laagyo. Tapailai kasto cha?" "Sanchai chu, dhanyabad. Aaja dashain ko shubhakamana!" "Dhanyabad! Tapailai pani. Pheri bhetaula.")

("Hello! Nice to meet you." "Hello! Nice to meet you too. How are you?" "I'm well, thank you. Happy Dashain today!" "Thank you! You too. See you again.")

Notice how the register stays formal throughout, नमस्कार instead of नमस्ते, तपाईंलाई instead of a casual pronoun, because this is a first meeting. Swap in सञ्चै? and drop the formal verb forms, and the exact same exchange becomes how two college friends greet each other on campus. If those formality shifts feel unfamiliar in your mouth, the aspirated and retroflex sounds packed into words like दशैं and शुभकामना are exactly what the Nepali pronunciation guide drills with minimal pairs.

Getting it right without overthinking it

The honest truth is that Nepalis are generous with visitors who fumble the formality rules. Say नमस्ते to everyone, keep your palms together, and you will never be wrong, even if a more polished speaker might have reached for नमस्कार instead. What separates a beginner from someone who's spent real time in Nepal isn't perfect grammar, it's noticing which greeting a situation calls for and adjusting without being told. Start with namaste, layer in सञ्चै? with people your own age, and save the full formal exchange for elders and first meetings, and you'll sound like someone who's paying attention rather than someone reciting a phrasebook. If you want native-speaker audio behind every greeting in this post, along with the fuller set of everyday phrases, the Brightwood Apps Learn Nepali app builds greetings into its very first unit.