Kyrgyz greetings: salam, rahmat and how are you

Words and phrases · Updated 2026-09-17

The first words that open doors: greeting someone, asking “how are you”, thanking and saying goodbye. Kyrgyz has a polite and a casual register for each — and choosing between them matters as much as the words themselves. Every phrase here is voiced by a native speaker in the phrasebook.

Salam or salamatsyzby: two distances

Салам! (salam) is “hi” — for friends, peers and people you know well. Саламатсызбы! (salamatsyzby) is “hello” — for elders, strangers and any formal situation. In between sits саламатсыңбы — a polite “hello” to one person you are on informal terms with.

The rule of thumb: when in doubt, start with salamatsyzby. Your interlocutor will offer the switch to salam themselves — and that is a good sign. A nice reply to a greeting is саламатчылык, roughly “health to you too”.

How are you: kandaysyz and jakshysyzby

Кандайсыз? (kandaysyz) — “how are you?” (polite); кандайсың? (kandaysyng) — the same among friends. Another common opener is жакшысызбы? (jakshysyzby), literally “are you well?”. The usual short answer: Жакшы, рахмат! — “fine, thanks” — then return the question: Өзүңүзчү? — “and you?”.

Note the -сыз/-сың pair: these are the politeness endings that run through the whole language. Hear -syz — you are being addressed formally; -syng — informally. Spotting this one contrast does half of the etiquette work for you.

Thank you and please

Рахмат (rahmat) — “thank you” in Kyrgyz, чоң рахмат (chong rahmat) — “thank you very much” (чоң means “big”). A natural reply is эчтеке эмес — “it's nothing”. For polite requests use сураныч — “please”.

Gratitude in Kyrgyzstan is not a formality: at the table, as a guest, at the bazaar, people say it often and mean it. A well-placed rahmat with a properly rolled “r” wins people over instantly.

Saying goodbye

If you are the one leaving, say жакшы калыңыз (jakshy kalyngyz) — “stay well” — to those who stay; if you are seeing someone off, wish them жакшы барыңыз (jakshy baryngyz) — “go well, safe travels”. The universal “see you” is көрүшкөнчө (körüshkönchö) — literally “until we meet”.

Notice the symmetry: kalyngyz comes from kal- “to stay”, baryngyz from bar- “to go”. Two verbs — and you can already see how the language assembles polite formulas from simple parts.

Mini-etiquette: a few more essentials

Кечиресиз (kechiresiz) — “excuse me”, works both to get attention and to apologise. Макул (makul) — “okay, agreed”. Ооба (ooba) — “yes”, жок (jok) — “no”. And if you get invited over — which happens faster than you expect — аш болсун! is the table blessing — a wish that the meal do you good, said during or after eating; the reply is бирге болсун — “and to you”.

Every phrase from this article is voiced by a native speaker in the phrasebook: Greetings, Politeness and Basic replies sections — and more basic Kyrgyz phrases are a search away in the English–Kyrgyz translator. Listen and repeat aloud — and to make them stick for good, try the demo lesson where each becomes a spaced-repetition flashcard.

Separate pages with audio for each word: thank you in Kyrgyz, hello, how are you, excuse me, yes and no and goodbye.