11 Most Common Greetings in the Chinese Language

When you learn the mandarin language, of the primary things you have to learn is greetings, so you can start connecting with natives. There’re quite some different methods of greeting and taking your leave in mandarin. So, to assist you to get started, in this article, we introduce some of the most common greetings in mandarin, you are likely to meet.

1, 你好, Nĭhǎo (Hello!)

你好 or “nĭhǎo” in the Pinyin system is the most common greeting taught in beginner Chinese books. Composed of the Chinese characters for you " (你 nĭ) and "good" (好 hǎo), it truly means “You Good”. If you are a beginner Chinese learner, you cannot truly go wrong with utilizing 你好 nĭhǎo for "hello."

Therefore, you should not worry if it is the only greeting you expert at first. If you pay close attention to how native speakers greet each other, though you would not normally hear them saying “你好.”

This is just because 你好 is a rather formal greeting that can pronounce slightly stiff to Chinese speakers. In fact, 你好 is not commonly used among buddies. A most common situation in which Chinese speakers use this word is when meeting somebody new.

If 2 people who’re around a similar age and we can see each other as equals as properly introduced to each other, they might say, “你好，你好” while shivering each other’s hand. If they previously know each other, though, they are more likely to utilize a more informal Chinese greeting.

你好 is also infrequently utilized as a written Chinese greeting from a better to a subordinate. Remember, although, that it does pronounce somewhat formal as compared to several of the other most common greeting introduced below.

2, 大家好, Dàjiā hǎo (Hello Everyone!)

If you are looking for a method to greet a number of people, you have found it in this greeting “大家好” (dàjiā hǎo). 大家 means everyone or everybody in Mandarin, so this Chinese greeting actually means everybody good. More correctly, although, it can be translated as Hello Everyone! This is the finest greeting with that to address a number of people.

If you continue reading this article, you will soon notice several greetings can be created by adding 好 after other Chinese characters that represent either the people or person you need to mention. This is the matter with 大家好.

In Mandarin greeting also usually created by adding 好 after the character representing a specific time of the day, one instance of this words 下午好 (xiàwǔhǎo, (Good Afternoon), discussed below in some detail.

3, 早, Zǎo (Good morning) informal Greeting

If you want to greet somebody in the morning, use the characters for the morning, which is 早上, followed by 好. This produces the most common greeting zǎoshànghǎo, 早上好 (good morning). It is possible to say 早 (zǎo) which also means good morning. Important to note that while it is likely to say 早 in the sunrise time, reducing greetings words in this method does not work in many other contexts.

It is not acceptable to follow this way by simply saying “下” for 下午好 (xiàwǔhǎo) and another way “晚” for 晚上好 (wǎnshànghǎo). It is not acceptable to follow this way by saying or just 早上好 can be shorted this method.

While 早 and 早上好, more or less the similar, 早 is little less formal. You can also think of 早 (zǎo) as being the same as the more relaxed West greeting Mornin. 早上好, on the other side, is simply to say Good Morning. 早 can be utilized among people and friends you’re familiar with. 早上好 (zǎoshanghǎo) is superior to use with superiors, people or people you have just met.

4, 下午好, Xiàwǔhǎo (Good afternoon)

One more very usual way used to make a Chinese greeting is to include a specific time when you are meeting somebody you want to respond to, followed by 好. For instance, if you are greeting somebody in the afternoon that is下午 in Chinese language, then you should say 下午好 (xiàwǔhǎo).

5, 晚上好,  Wǎnshànghǎo (Good evening!)

In keeping with the way introduced in upper sections, if you occur to somebody at night, you can make a greeting by starting with a Mandarin word for a night that is 晚上 and adding at the end. Therefore, your correct greetings become 晚上好 (wǎnshànghǎo).

Always be careful – the actual translation for these words is night good, and West speakers might be tempted to reserve the order and assume that this is latterly a method to say Good Night. Though, this understanding is wrong. In English speakers, Good Night is not a greeting. Somewhat, it is a method to say goodbye to someone.

In mandarin language, by difference, 晚上好 (wǎnshànghǎo) which means evening good and is a proper greeting, not a method to say somebody a very good night. If you need to say good night to somebody in mandarin language, you’d say 晚安 (wǎn'ān).

6, 你吃了吗? - Nĭ chī le ma? (Have you take a meal?)

Starting learners of Mandarin language are sometimes taught that “你吃了吗?” (Nĭ chī le ma?) Which means have you eaten? Is a very common greeting in the Mandarin language, this greeting is a little less commonly used than you may think, though. Now, it is rather outdated, and it is more frequent to hear it from older speakers, particularly, those living in the countryside or little towns.

Young speakers are extremely unlikely to greet each other in this method. In fact, saying this to anybody except members of the old speakers sound a little strange in modern mandarin. This can be a little confusing, since it sounds like a query that truly needs an answer, much like the common American language greetings. How is it going? Though, 你吃了吗 is not meant as a right question that needs a detailed answer.

Opposing to what several might think, this greeting word is not meant as an invitation to a meal. It is just a well-mannered thing to say. Therefore, even if you have not latterly eaten something, it is normally easier to reply “吃了，你呢?” Chī le, nĭ ne?, that means, I have taken my meal and you?

If you replay that you have not eaten something yet, you will put the person who greeted you in an awkward situation. This is just because they will feel a little compelled to invite you to eat, an invitation that they will then expect you to gently turn down.

Remember that this greeting is not usually used upon the primary meeting. Normally, you will only be asked this person with whom you are already rather familiar.

7, 喂, Wéi (Hello) Utilized when answering the phone call in china

喂 or “wéi” in Pinyin is a common greeting that is exclusively utilized for answering phone calls in China. In English, the greetings utilized over the phone call are normally similar to those used in daily life. Indeed, most speakers in English simply say Hello, when they pick up the phone call.

In Chinese, though it sounds strange to answer a phone call by saying 你好 (nĭhǎo). In its place, most people answer the phone call by saying 喂 (wéi). Normally, they put additional emphasis on this Chinese character’s rising tone and sounding it like a 1-word question. If you wish to be more polite or you uncertain that there is a vital call on the other side, you can say 你好 (nĭhǎo). Though, it pronounces natural to say, 喂，你好 (wéi, nĭhǎo) than to say 你好 by itself.

Note that several directions present 2 different entries for 喂, 1 with a rising tone (wéi) and 1 with a falling tone (wèi). When sound with a falling tone, 喂 can for a time serve as an interjection utilized to get other people’s attention. Though, it most usually happens as a way to answer the phone call. In that way, it is sounded with a rising tone.

8, 去哪儿？, qù  nǎ er (Where are you going?

This is a mandarin greeting that is normally used when you run into someone. This one might look quite nosy by non-Mandarin standard, but do not be bothered by that – this is one more way that people express that they latterly care by showing attention. It is very common to use some variation of this expression by putting a location. For instance, if you run into a learner, you might say “qù shàng kè le?” (“Going to learn or class?”).

9, 嘿, Hēi (Hey!)

Just like 嗨 above, 嘿, or “hēi” in the Pinyin system, is a loan word taken from the English language. It is modeled off pronounce as well as the meaning of the informal West greeting hey. Just like Like 嘿 (hēi), 嗨 (hāi) is commonly used by teenage speakers in built-up places to informally best friends or other speakers of the same language. It can also be utilized in written form on Social networks.

10, 嗨, Hāi  (Hi)

嗨 or “hāi” in the Chinese Pinyin system is a casual Chinese greeting utilized by teenage speakers in built-up places to greet associates and several others around their period. It is actually a loan word from the English language and is simply the mandarin from a West greeting hi.  You will often hear young speakers greeting other young speakers with this personal method. It is also often to see the written shape of 嗨 as a greeting on a well-known social app like We Chat.

11, 哈喽, Hālóu (Hello!)

Just like嗨 (hāi) and 嘿 (hēi) mention before, In Pinyin, is a loan word from the English language. Note that the Chinese words for 哈喽 are one-times also described as this way 哈啰. It is modeled off the West greetings Hello and pronounces quite the same. It is also an informal greeting, a rather playful greeting. Most often, it is used by young speaker urbanites both in person as well as occasionally internet to address their peers.

After greeting somebody new, you will need to know how to introduce yourself. To do that efficiently, you will need to know how to pronounce your name in mandarin. And of course, if you want to impress your new buddies, you’d work with a Mandarin instructor either on the internet or in person to select out a completely new, culturally appropriate mandarin name for yourself.

When you meeting and greet new persons, it is also vital to gain an understanding of the mandarin rules of etiquette, Brush up on the beyond vocabulary and pay close attention to the basic mandarin laws of politeness and you’ll be greeting people in china like a professional before you understand it.

Summary…

There is nothing difficult about greetings in the mandarin language, and all you’ve to be to keep in mind is which ones to use at the correct times and with the correct people. As always the ideal way to fix them in your memory is to practice them as much as possible, so forever look for every small chance to use them with Chinese speakers.

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