# Hello, Good morning etc.



## PABLO DE SOTO

Which is the usual way to say Hello when you get into to a shop or a restaurant in Finland?
Hei? Terve? Hyvää paivää?
What do Finns say in a mid range restaurant?
Is it polite to say the introduction in Finnish if you are a foreigner?
Does it sound ridiculous?


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## Hakro

"Hyvää päivää" is always fine in a shop or a restaurant.
"Hei" is often OK, especially between young people.
"Terve" is mostly used only between personsa who know each other.
I believe that "hei" is most commonly used in a mid range restaurant.
If you say "hyvää päivää", Finns most probably understand that you're a foreigner. It's not ridiculous at all, and even though you might pronounce it not too well, it's rather aprreciated than ridiculed.
Instead, if you say "hei", maybe a Finn doesn't notice that you're a foreigner and there may be some confusion for a moment.
You can also say "hola" and most of the Finns understand immediately that you're Spanish.


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## PABLO DE SOTO

Kiitos.
Very helpful information.
I did not know that "hola" could be understood there.


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## Hakro

Hola, Pablo!
Didn't you know that nearly every other Finn has been in Spain at least once?


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## PABLO DE SOTO

Hakro said:


> Hola, Pablo!
> Didn't you know that nearly every other Finn has been in Spain at least once?


 
In the town where I was born (Las Palmas), ice cream vendors on the beach shout "Helado, Ice cream, _yátelo", _and I never understood what they said until I knew that they were saying jäätelö, and the vendor said to me that Finns where the best ice cream buyers on the beach and there were lots of them.


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