Hungarians are a bit picky about greetings – after all, this is how you make your first impression, isn’t it? They’ll make up long stories from what greeting phrase the other person selects and from the tone and the volume they use. And here and there, people will even use these to send underlying messages to others and the witnessing audience.
But don’t worry, most Hungarians are understanding with foreigners – and are a hundred times more tolerant towards foreigners than their fellow Hungarians.

When deciding how to greet someone, Hungarians will quickly assess the situation, recall the relevant rules and exceptions, then differentiate, integrate, and run multivariable regressions – all in the blink of an eye – just to choose the proper greeting for the given situation. Complicated it may sound but it usually follows a few general rules of thumb:

If you wouldn’t use “tegeződés” with someone, don’t say “Szia!” or “Helló!”, either. Or “Hali!” or “Halihó?” or “Hi!” (yes, the English “Hi!”, pronounced “háj”) – which are common but still slang. (If you would like to read more about „tegeződés” and „magázódás”, check this post: „About „tegeződés” and „magázódás”.)

“Jó reggelt!” (Good morning), “Jó napot!” (Good day/morning/afternoon!), “Jó estét!” (Good evening), “Jó éjszakát!” (Good night) – these are all safe to use with anybody. It is the same with “Üdv!” in writing. WIth friends, family and close people these sound more like a friendly qesture or a cute joke, or just sland, but still OK, not wierd at all.

And with “Jó éjt”, “Jó éjszakát”, “Jó reggelt”, “Jó estét”, we don’t even have anything else to refer to the time in the day, so this is what we have to use with strangers and friends and family, too.

Learn and practice greetings in Hungarian in this sheet: Greetings

In casual situations, with friends, people you are on “tegeződő” terms, “Szia!” (“Sziasztok” is the plural for greeting plural number of people) or “Helló!” is good enough. While “Hi!” (yes, that one) or “Hali!” are considered slang.

And with “Puszi”? Well, you’ll hear it here and there. People who greet each other with a kiss on the cheek, will often say “Puszi!” to each other, too – because, I bet you are surprised now: „puszi” means „quick kiss” (with lips) in English. Young girls, family members, friends… However, it is safer to wait until a Hungarian says it to you, so you can reply with it, rather than initiating it.  

And last, but not least, three things worth mentioning that foreigners are usually surprised by:

1) “Szia!” “Helló”, “Üdv” or “Puszi!” are used both for greeting and saying good-bye. There is no trick, they are the same words used both when coming and leaving. Just let your brain get used to it.

2) Men shake hands to greet each other. Even if they meet every day. Even if they have already known each other for ages, and it doesn’t matter if you are on “magázódó” or “tegeződő” terms. But no worries, in most cases, once a day is enough. In workplaces or with a group of people, you’ll often see the newly arrived man walk around and shake hands with the other men one by one. (Women never do this. The only cases when women shake hands are 1) being introduced to someone stranger or friend, business or casual, 2) saying good-bye in a business situation. However, when it comes to shaking hands with a woman: it is the woman who initiates it, never the man.

3) Children will often use “Csókolom!” with adults. (It also means „kiss”, but it is originates in kissing the hand.) And many times, adults will say “Csókolom!” to elderly people who are old enough to be their grandparents. However, as “tegeződés” is becoming widely accepted, some young children will approach you with a “Szia!”

One more thing to keep in mind about greetings in Hungary: we still keep the older / higher rank / woman rule in greetings. Meaning: if one of these greets you with a “Szia!” or “Szervusz!” (latter one is used by men) or “Helló!” then, it is an invitation for “tegeződés” and it is generally considered rude to ignore it. So you always reply with the same expression.
It is the same between a man and a woman: if the woman greets the man with a “tegeződő” greeting, she is also asking him to use “tegeződés” with her.
If these people choose a „magázódó” greeting, then, stick to that.

Overwhelmed by how many there are to remember? Don’t worry. Just start with “Szia!”, “Jó napot!”, and “Viszontlátásra!” — you’ll pick up the rest as you go.