When hitchhiking it is good to know at least a few phrases of the language of the place where you are, or of your potential drivers. See Tips for hitchhiking for more about hitchhiking in general, and List of phrasebooks for more extensive vocabularies. Here are seven key phrases which will come in handy:
# Hello!
# Are you possibly driving to ...?
# Can I ride with you?
# Can you drop me off at a motorway service area?
# Can I get out right here?
# Thanks for the ride!
# East, West, North, South
Western Europe
German
# Guten Tag!
# Fahren Sie vielleicht Richtung ... ?
# Konnte ich vielleicht bei Ihnen mitfahren?
# Konnen sie mich an der nachsten Tankstelle rauslassen?
# Kann ich direkt hier raus?
# Vielen Dank fuer die Fahrt!
# Ost, West, Nord, Sud
French
# Bonjour
# Est-ce que vous allez vers ...?
# Est-ce que je pourrais venir avec vous?
# Est-ce que vous pouvez me laisser a une station-service?
# Est-ce je peux sortir juste ici?
# Merci beaucoup!
# Est, Ouest, Nord, Sud
Dutch
# Hallo
# Rijdt u misschien in de richting van ... ?
# Mag ik misschien met u meerijden?
# Kunt u me bij het volgende tankstation afzetten?
# Kan ik er hier uit?
# Bedankt voor de lift!
# Oost, West, Noord, Zuid
Northern Europe
Don't bother to try asking in Danish, Swedish, Norwegian or Finnish. Almost all local people speak English, and will be confused when you try to speak their language - and if you do speak it at a reasonable level, you won't need this phrasebook.
Eastern Europe
Russian is probably the most important language to learn, many older people speak or at least understand Russian, especially when their mother tongue is a Slavic language. A lot of young people understand at least a bit of English (of course more in the (big) cities than in the countryside). German could also be very useful (it is (was?) very used for the commercial exchanges).
Russian
#Zdrastvuite!
#Vy edete do ...?
#Mozhno pojehat' s vami?
#Mozhete sbrosit' menya na avtozapravke?
#Mozhno ja vyjdu tut?
#Spasibo, shto podvezli!
#Vostok, Zapad, Sever, Jug
Central Europe
Czech
#Dobry den,
#Jedete do ...?
#M??u se svest s vami?
#M??ete mn? vysadit na benzinove pump??
#M??u vystoupit tady?
#Diky za svezeni.
#Vychod, zapad, sever, jih
Hungarian
# Jo napot kivanok!
# Nem ... fele megy veletlenul?
# Elmehetnek onnel?
# Ki tudna tenni az autopalya melletti benzinkutnal?
# Kiszallhatnek most?
# Koszonom a fuvart!
# kelet, nyugat, eszak, del
Polish
#Dzie? dobry!
#Czy jedzie pan/pani do...
#Mog? si? zabra??
#Mo?e mnie pan/pani wyrzuci? ko?o stacji benzynowej?
#Mog? tutaj wysi????
#Dzi?ki za podwiezienie!
#Wschod, zachod, po?noc, po?udnie
Slovak
#Dobry den!
#Idete do ...?
#Mo?em is? s vami?
#Mo?ete ma vysadi? na benzinovej pumpe?
#Mo?em tu vystupi??
#?akujem za zvezenie.
#Vychod, zapad, sever, juh
South-Eastern Europe
Slovenian
Serbian/Croatian/Bosnian
(Croatian)
# Zdravo! (or Bok!)
# Vozite li mo?da prema ...?
# Mogu li se povesti s vama?
# Mo?ete li me ostaviti na odmarali?tu?
# Mogu li ovdje iza?i?
# Hvala na vo?nji!
# Istok, Zapad, Sjever, Jug
Bulgarian
#Zdraveite!
#Otivate li do ...?
#Moga li da patuvam s vas?
#Shte me ostavite li na purvata benzinostancia (= would you drop me off at a first gasstation?)
#Moga li da sliaza tuk?
#Blagodaria za patuvaneto!
#Iztok, Zapad, Sever, Jug
Romanian
# Bun? ziua
# Merge?i in / la / spre ...?
# M? lua?i ?i pe mine?
# M? pute?i l?sa la un service / la o benzin?rie?
# Pot s? m? dau jos aici?
# Mul?umesc mult!
# est, vest, nord, sud
Albanian
Greek
Turkish
# Merhaba! (or Selam!)
# Acaba _c_fa gidiyor musunuz?
# Binebilir miyim?
# Beni bir dinlenme tesisinde b?rakabilir misiniz?
# Burada inebilir miyim?
# Yolculuk icin te?ekkurler!
# Do?u, Bat?, Kuzey, Guney
Southern Europe/South America/Carribean
Spanish (Castilian)
# Hola
# ?Quiza esta usted viajando a ...?
# ?Me permite viajar con usted?
# ?Me puede dejar en un area de servicios en el autopista?
# Quiero salir aqui, por favor.
# !Gracias por llevarme!
# Este, oeste, norte, sur.
Spanish (Puerto Rican)
# Hola
# ?Va para ...?
# ?Me da pon?
# ?Me puede dejar en un area de servicios en el autopista?
# Dejeme bajarme aqui, por favor.
# !Gracias por llevarme!
# Este, oeste, norte, sur.
Portuguese
#Ola
#Por acaso voce esta indo para ...?
#Pode me dar uma carona?
#Voce pode me deixar em uma estacao de servicos?
#Posso descer aqui?
#Obrigado pela carona!
#Leste, Oeste, Norte, Sul
Italian
# Ciao/Buongiorno
# Per caso stai/sta andando a...?
# Posso viaggiare con te/lei?
# Puoi/Puo lasciarmi in un'area di servizio?
# Posso scendere qui?
# Grazie per il passaggio!
# Est, Ovest, Nord, Sud
Africa
Arabic
Marhaba!
inta sayig(male)inti saigeh(female)la...?
bagdar atlaa' maak(male)maaki(female)?
ibtigdar itnazilni(male)ibtigdari itnazleeni end el...?
bagdar ana anzal hoona?
shukran lal rakbeh!
Bambara
Peul
Swahili
Afrikaans
Asia
Japanese
Some knowledge of basic Japanese is near-essential to Hitchhiking in Japan.
Chinese (Mandarin)
Hindi/Urdu
# Namaste
# Kya aap ... jaa rahe hai?
# Kya mei aapke saath chal sakta hoon?
# Kya aap mujhe 'motorway service area' pe chor sakte hai?
# Kya main yahin utar sakta hoon?
# Chorne ke liye dhanyawaad/shukriya.
# poorab, paschim, uttar, dakshin
Persian
# Salam
# Dastetoon dard nakoneh
# roozetoon bekheir
# komak!
# khoda negahdar
Thai
Vietnamese
Korean
Hebrew
While driving with young people, using English is more advisable and understood widely. Russian or Romanian is widely spoken as well. On main inter-city roads there are special stops for hitchhikers, designed for soldiers to hitchhike easily (until the government forbade soldiers from hitchhiking, for safety reasons); use them if possible.
# Shalom
# Ata Nosea Be-mikreh Le...?
# Efshar Linsoa itha/itah (m/f)?
# Ata yachol le-horid oti betahanat ha-delek hakrova?
# Efshar La-redet kan, be-vakasha?
# Toda al Ha-tremp!
# Mizrah, Maarav, Tzafon, Darom