hej hej
/hɑj hɑj/word by word
hej hej is the Danish way to say bye.
hej hej is the most common way to say bye in both casual and standard everyday situations. While the single word hej means hi, repeating it as hej hej changes the meaning from a greeting to a farewell.
Meaning: short for goodbye (intj)
Which one should you use?
Farvel is a common way to say goodbye in a formal setting. If you expect to see someone again soon, you might instead say Vi ses, which means see you.
How do you pronounce it?
/hɑj hɑj/
Did you know?
- If you use farvel to leave a casual gathering, you might inadvertently signal that you are leaving the country or moving away indefinitely.
- Because hej comes from the Old Norse hei, it carries a historical weight of a shout or a call that has been softened over centuries into a polite greeting.
- A sudden shift from the friendly hej hej to the formal farvel in a conversation can act as a social cue that the speaker is unhappy or wants to end the interaction immediately.
Examples in context
- Vi ses, hej hej.See you, bye bye.
- Hej hej, hav en god dag.Bye bye, have a good day.
Example conversation
Emma and Mikkel are leaving a coffee shop.
- EmmaTak for i dag, Mikkel.Thanks for today, Mikkel.
- MikkelSelv tak, Emma. Hej hej!You're welcome, Emma. Bye bye!
- EmmaHej hej!Bye bye!
- MikkelVi ses i morgen.See you tomorrow.
Sources
- IPA marked “word by word” joins the Wiktionary pronunciations of each word (hej) and can differ in connected speech.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries hej, CC BY-SA 4.0.
