Greetings in Chinese

Posted on by tiffany

你好Nǐhǎo

Hello!

Dialogue

A ： 哈罗hālou， 我wǒ是shìTiffany
A: Hello, I am Tiffany.

B ： 你好nǐhǎo， 我wǒ是shì美美měiměi
B: Hi, I am Meimei.

A ： 美美měiměi你好嗎nǐhǎoma
A: How are you, Meimei?

B ： 我wǒ很好hěnhǎo， 谢谢xièxie
B: I am good, Thank you!

Simplified (China)

Traditional (Taiwan)

Vocabulary (Taiwan — China)

早安zǎo’ān – 早上zǎoshang好hǎo
Good morning!

晚上wǎnshang好hǎo
Good evening!

晚安wǎn’ān
Good night. 

你好nǐhǎo – 哈喽hālou – 嗨hāi
hello – hello – hi

你好吗nǐhǎoma
How are you? 

还hái可以kěyǐ – 还hái行xíng
I’m okay.

不太好bútàihǎo
I’m not doing well. 

再见zàijiàn – 拜拜bāibāi
Good bye – Bye-Bye

F.Y.I

Rule number one : No kiss, no bow, no hug, no shake hands (business OK) when you meet a Chinese. We usually only nod our heads and smile.

Rule number two : No 再见 (zàijiàn) in hospital and funeral. Please leave quietly because you don’t want to get sick again or someone die soon.

Rule number three (only in Taiwan) : Most Taiwanese say byebye instead of 再见 (zàijiàn) because 再见 (zàijiàn) sounds too heavy for us. It’s like you probably won’t meet again. In my case, I use it only when I say good bye to my students who are going to back to their countries.

Do you like it? 🙂

More information about greetings in Chinese

T= It uses in Taiwan
C= It uses in China

Hello

  • 你好 (nǐhǎo) hello! Lit. “you good.” It replaces good afternoon and good evening in Taiwan. TC
  • 您好 (nínhǎo) The same “hello” greeting as above, except that 您 (nín) is the polite form of “you”, used when addressing elders, or teachers etc. TC
  • 哈喽 (hāluō ) From English “Hello” TC
  • 嗨  (hāi ) From English “Hi!” TC

How are you

  • 你好吗? (nǐhǎo ma?) how are you? TC
  • 您好吗? (nǐnhǎo ma?) The same as the “Nǐ hǎo ma?” above, again, except that this is used as a more polite form.TC
  • 吃饭了吗? (chīfànle ma ?) “Have you eaten?”, used when you meet around lunch or dinner time. T
  • 一切都好吗? (yíqiè dōuhǎo ma?) How’s everything? TC
  • 最近怎麼样? (zuìjìn zěnmeyàng?) How have you been? TC

Answer

  • 我很好 (wŏ hĕnhăo) I’m doing great. TC
  • 挺好的 (tĭnghăode) I’m fine.C
  • 还可以or 还行 (hái kěyǐ or háixíng ) I’m okay. TC
  • 马马虎虎 (mămăhūhū) So so.C
  • 不太好 (bútàihăo) I’m not doing well. TC

Good morning

  • 早安 (zǎoān) Lit. “Peace this morning”. T
  • 早 (zǎo) TC
  • 早上好 (zǎoshàng hǎo) C

Good afternoon

  • 午安 (wǔān ) T
  • 下午好 (xiàwǔ hǎo )C

Good evening / Good night

  • 晚安  (wǎnān) Lit. “Peace at night”, Good night. Use only before you sleep. TC
  • 晚上好 (wǎnshàng hǎo ) Good evening!C

    Q:So how to say Good evening in Taiwan?
    A:你好 (nǐhǎo)

Good-bye

  • 再见 (zàijiàn) Lit. “See you again”. TC
  • 明天见 (míngtiān jiàn) Lit.”See you tomorrow”. TC
  • 拜拜 (bāibāi) From English “Bye-Bye”. TC
  • 掰掰 (bāibāi) From English “Bye-Bye”. T