Master Mandarin Chinese Greetings: From Hello to How Are You

Ahh, greetings. How every conversation is started, and how pretty much every Chinese course begins, no matter where you actually go to learn Chinese.

Greetings very much fall into the category of basics, but when you look under the surface, they're also sort of complex. Some are used at only certain times of the day, for example, while others are more or less formal. There are even some that are culturally unique. (A common Chinese greeting is to ask the listener if they've eaten!)

This blog post is a collection of the most common Chinese greetings. Namely:

[Table] 15 different ways to say hello in Chinese

If needed, you can also check out our refresher on Chinese tones.

5 "Hello" greetings 👋👋

To get started, here are a few basic expressions that correspond directly to "hi" or "hello".

1. Hello - (níhǎo)你好

Literally: you good
Sounds like: "nee how"

This is the most generic greeting in Chinese though that doesn't mean it's not a useful phrase to initiate contact with someone or just spice up a greeting to a Mandarin speaker. However, this is far from the most common way that Mandarin native speakers greet one another. It's seen as slightly formal.

2. Hello, Hi, Hey (loanwords) - (hālou)哈喽

、(hāi)嗨

、(hēi)嘿

These are all common brief versions of hello borrowed directly from English. These are very useful since they are easy to remember—being that they're close in sound to their English counterparts—and they're actually used. These are all nice alternatives to the not-so-frequently used but well known (níhǎo)你好.

3. Hello, Everyone - (dàjiāhǎo)大家好

Literally: everyone good
Sounds like: "da jya how"

Even though the English translation refers to "everyone," this greeting is a common way to greet a group in general, much more so than its English equivalent. You will also see this greeting on vlogs as a way to greet the audience.

3 "How are you?" greetings 😊😞

And now we'll cover a few common phrases you'll hear come up when greeting people:

1. How are you? - (níhǎo)你好(ma)吗？​

Literally: you good + QUESTION PARTICLE
Sounds like: "nee how ma"

This is the most standard way to ask how someone is doing in Mandarin. It simply adds (ma)吗, which is a particle that can be added at the end of a statement to turn it into a question. So, literally you can think of this like "Are you good?"

2. Have you eaten yet? - (nǐ)你(chī)吃(le)了(ma)吗？​

Literally: you eat + COMPLETED ACTION PARTICLE + QUESTION PARTICLE
Sounds like: "nee chur luh ma"

This is a common colloquial greeting that is literally asking if you have eaten yet. You can also drop the (nǐ)你 at the beginning. It's more common among older generations. When forming a reply, it's normal to answer the question as literally posed, for example:

3. How have you been lately? - (zuìjìn)最近(ní)你(zěnmeyàng)怎么样？​

Literally: recently you how
Sounds like: "zway jean nee ts-un muh yang"

There are many, many variations of (zěnmeyàng)怎么样 to ask how one is doing or has been. This is just a common one that communicates that more directly.

3 Time-based greetings ⏰🌄

On the whole, time-based greetings are not nearly as common as they are in English. Even so, they still get used from time to time, or especially in more formal occasions. All of these follow the format of TIME WORD + (hǎo)好.

1. Good Morning - (zǎoshanghǎo)早上好

Literally: early morning good
Sounds like: "zow shang how"

You can use this phrase from the early morning until just before noon.

2. Good Afternoon - (xiàwúhǎo)下午好

Literally: afternoon good
Sounds like: "shah woo how"

You can use this greeting starting at noon and until about 6pm.

3. Good Evening - (wǎnshànghǎo)晚上好

Literally: evening good
Sounds like: "wan shang how"

This is the appropriate greeting from around 6pm or after sunset.

4 Situational greetings 🙇🙇‍♀️

And now we'll look at a few greetings that you'll hear in specific situations.

1. Hello? / Yes? (phone) - (wéi)喂

Literally: hey
Sounds like: "way"

This is one of the most common sayings when picking up the phone, whether you know the person or not.

2. Nice to meet you - (hěn)很(gāoxìng)高兴(jiàndào)见到(nǐ)你

Literally: happy to meet you
Sounds like: "hun gow shing jee-in dow nee"

This is the standard greeting when meeting someone for the first time. It's a phrase that acts as a common courtesy, much as it does in English.

3. Long time no see - (háojiǔbujiàn)好久不见

Literally: long time no see/meet
Sounds like: "how joe boo jen"

This is actually where the phrase in English comes from! This is a general greeting between people that have gone a long time without seeing each other.

4. What are you doing? - (gànmá)干嘛(ne)呢

Literally: do?
Sounds like: "gan mah nuh"

Sometimes greetings are rather indirect. Inquiring into what someone else is up to is another way to greet someone. The above is a very casual version of this expression, so it's more suitable between people that are well acquainted with another in an informal setting. This phrase is actually a shortened form of (nǐ)你(zài)在(gànmá)干嘛(ne)呢

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Some other common phrasings include:

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