auf Wiedersehen

Meanings

1. 1interjectionfixed phrase

   A German way of saying goodbye, meaning roughly until we meet again.

   Grammar: Stands alone as a farewell and is not changed in form.

   The host smiled and said, "Auf Wiedersehen," at the door.

   She waved from the train and called out auf Wiedersehen.

   We learned auf Wiedersehen in our first German class.

2. 2nounsingularhumorous

   The act of saying this farewell, used in English humorously or for foreign flavor.

   Grammar: Appears mostly in set expressions like bid auf Wiedersehen.

   Patterns

   • say auf Wiedersehen to something

   It was time to say auf Wiedersehen to the old car.

   The comedian blew the audience an exaggerated auf Wiedersehen.

   They bid auf Wiedersehen to the summer holidays.

Common combinations

say auf Wiedersehen

We said auf Wiedersehen and left for the airport.

bid auf Wiedersehen

He bid auf Wiedersehen to his Berlin friends.

auf Wiedersehen and thank you

She ended her talk with auf Wiedersehen and thank you.

wave auf Wiedersehen

The children waved auf Wiedersehen from the bus.

Synonyms and how they differ

goodbye

Goodbye is the everyday English farewell, while auf Wiedersehen signals German speech or playful flair.

farewell

Farewell is more formal and suggests a longer or final parting.

adieu

Adieu is a French borrowing that feels dramatic or old-fashioned, just as this phrase feels foreign.

tschüss

Tschüss is the casual German goodbye used among friends, less formal than auf Wiedersehen.

Opposites

Word family

Wiedersehen noun

German for a reunion or meeting again

sehen verb

German verb meaning to see

Commonly confused: auf Wiedersehen or auf Wiederhören?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “auf Wiedersehen”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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