PHRASES · GREETINGS
Common Chinese Greetings — 你好, 早上好, and more
How to say hello in Mandarin, with pinyin, audio, and context for formal vs casual greetings.
40 entries
| Chinese | English |
|---|---|
| Basic hellos | |
| nǐ你hǎo好 | hello |
| nín您hǎo好 | hello (formal / polite) |
| hāi嗨 | hi (casual, borrowed from English) |
| hēi嘿 | hey |
| dà大jiā家hǎo好 | hello everyone |
| nǐ你men们hǎo好 | hello (to multiple people) |
| lǎo老shī师hǎo好 | hello teacher |
| Time-of-day greetings | |
| zǎo早 | morning (short, casual) |
| zǎo早shang上hǎo好 | good morning |
| zǎo早ān安 | good morning (slightly literary) |
| zhōng中wǔ午hǎo好 | good afternoon (around noon) |
| xià下wǔ午hǎo好 | good afternoon |
| wǎn晚shang上hǎo好 | good evening |
| wǎn晚ān安 | good night |
| Meeting someone | |
| nǐ你jiào叫shén什me么míng名zi字？ | what's your name? |
| wǒ我jiào叫 | my name is … |
| hěn很gāo高xìng兴rèn认shi识nǐ你 | nice to meet you |
| rèn认shi识nǐ你hěn很gāo高xìng兴 | pleased to meet you (alternate order) |
| xìng幸huì会 | pleased to meet you (formal) |
| jiǔ久yǎng仰 | I've heard a lot about you (formal) |
| jiǔ久yǎng仰dà大míng名 | your reputation precedes you (formal) |
| qǐng请duō多guān关zhào照 | please look after me / please take care of me (business / formal first-meeting) |
| Catching up | |
| nǐ你hǎo好ma吗？ | how are you? |
| nǐ你zěn怎me么yàng样？ | how are you doing? (casual) |
| zuì最jìn近zěn怎me么yàng样？ | how have you been recently? |
| zuì最jìn近máng忙ma吗？ | have you been busy lately? |
| hǎo好jiǔ久bù不jiàn见 | long time no see |
| chī吃le了ma吗？ | have you eaten? (classic informal greeting — not a literal dinner question) |
| qù去nǎ哪r儿？ | where are you off to? (light, conversational — 哪儿 is one erhua syllable so this falls back to block layout) |
| wǒ我hěn很hǎo好，xiè谢xie谢 | I'm doing well, thanks |
| hái还xíng行 | doing okay / so-so |
| mǎ马ma马hū虎hū虎 | so-so (idiomatic, literally "horse horse tiger tiger") |
| Goodbyes | |
| zài再jiàn见 | goodbye |
| bài拜bài拜 | bye-bye (casual, borrowed from English) |
| huí回tóu头jiàn见 | see you later |
| yí一huì会r儿jiàn见 | see you in a bit (会儿 = huìr is one erhua syllable, so this falls back to block layout) |
| míng明tiān天jiàn见 | see you tomorrow |
| xià下cì次jiàn见 | see you next time |
| bǎo保zhòng重 | take care |
| lù路shang上xiǎo小xīn心 | be safe on your way (said to someone leaving) |
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