Greetings and farewells (dzień dobry, cześć)

Saying hello

Polish splits greetings by formality, and the split matters — using the wrong one is the single most noticeable beginner mistake.

good morning / good afternoon (formal greeting)

dzień dobry is the all-purpose polite greeting. It covers both good morning and good afternoon: Polish does not separate them. Use it with pan and pani, with strangers, in shops, and at work.

good evening

dobry wieczór replaces it in the evening.

hi / bye (informal)

cześć is the informal one — friends, family, people your own age. hey (very informal)

hej is more casual again, closest to English hey.

formal	informal
dzień dobry	cześć
dobry wieczór	hej
do widzenia	cześć / na razie

Saying goodbye

goodbye (formal)

do widzenia is the formal farewell. Informally, cześć works for goodbye as well as hello — exactly like Italian ciao.

see you

do zobaczenia (see you) and bye for now (informal)

na razie (bye for now) are neutral to informal. see you tomorrow

do jutra is see you tomorrow.

good night (when parting)

dobranoc is good night — and note it is a parting word, said when leaving or going to bed. It is never a greeting.

Asking how someone is

how are you (informal)

jak się masz is the informal how are you. Unlike the English question, Poles usually treat it as a real one and answer it properly.