32 Native Mandarin Expressions

Before talking these Mandarin expressions, we will spend a long introduction on the difficulties of learning Chinese and why hard to learn, and why we would still learn it. I think it is necessary.

Background

Although some Europeans and Americans can easily master three or four European languages, they are pushed back to primitive when they learn Chinese. Even UN translators who know 32 languages say Chinese is “the hardest language in the world to learn”.

In fact, the phenomenon is not really a matter of difficulty; It’s really a matter of difference, and Chinese falls into a completely different category than most of the world’s languages.

Chinese has thousands of years of history. Chinese is very special, and Chinese characters are very unique.

Different Language Typology

Chinese is the representative language in the Analysis Language, the most significant feature of this language is: its words are basically unchanged, do not need to do any inflection or conjugation, and the expression of different meanings only adds more elements to the sentence.

For example, if we say:

我喝咖啡。 (I drink coffee.)

我喝了咖啡。 (I drank coffee.)

We added 了 to express the past in Chinese, instead of changing the tense.

Language like English, which needs to change the tense of words to express different meanings, is Inflectional Language; European languages are all Inflectional Language, so the bar is low for native English speakers.

It is precisely because Chinese and European languages are completely different language systems and it is so difficult for us to learn each other’s languages.

Different Grammar Structure

English grammar emphasizes structure, while Chinese grammar emphasizes semantics.

Studies have shown that the order of characters does not necessarily affect the reading. For example, when you read this sentence, you only find that the words here are all jumbled.

Wrong (in picture): 

研表究明，汉字的顺序并不定一会影响阅读。比如当看你完这句话，才发这现里的字全是都乱的。

Crrect order:

研究表明，汉字的顺序并不一定会影响阅读。比如当你看完这句话，才发现这里的字全都是乱的。

This is because the human eye does not scan text, word by word, but is a regional saccade. When the human eye is looking at a Chinese character, it can see 1 or 2 characters on the left and 2 or 3characters on the right of the character in the peripheral vision, adding up to a maximum of 5 or 6 characters at a time.

At the same time, when reading the whole passage, the eyes are often reading across lines, jumping forward. If you are proficient in reading, you can read more lines, and even learn ten lines at a glance.

Different Characters

Chinese characters are one of the few ideograms still in use today: Ideographic Characters are graphic recording symbols, which look like pictures. The language writing system of ideograms is relatively complicated, and it is difficult to learn and use them.

English and most languages are Phonetic: Phonetic Alphabets are made up of a very small number of letters. The language is not at all complicated to write and is relatively simple to learn and use.

Different Pronunciation

Chinese belongs to the Sino-Tibetan language family, each syllable has a fixed tone in the Sino-Tibetan language's important phonetic characteristics. Tone can distinguish lexical meaning.

The four tones in Chinese are called:

level tone
rising tone
falling rising tone
falling tone

This is a real mystery to many foreigners because they only change their tone to show emotion (or an accent problem, such as British English’s preference for the Chinese third tone), whereas in Chinese, changing tone means saying something completely different.

Difficult and Weak Textbooks

Some textbooks are severely rigid and rigid and only teach the language itself out of context. In particular, the Chinese pay special attention to context.

For example, in this following dialogue, as you just learn Chinese, it is necessary to ask each other’s parents if they are OK. This kind of language environment is confusing.

Secondly, some content is very naive and superficial, and the content is seriously below the cognitive level of the object of use of the textbook.

That’s why we can’t use Chinese textbooks for Chinese kids to teach adult foreign students with zero foundation. Adult cognition and logic are completely different from that of children.

And in order to explain the language point, it is always forced to piece together some dialogue, which is rarely used in life.

So…., why still learn Chinese

We won’t go into more depth today. There are countless papers written by linguists on the essential differences between Chinese and other languages, and we can’t say all of them here.

Let’s talk a little bit about the benefits of learning Chinese.

As I just said, English is much more logical than Chinese, so Chinese people usually find their logical thinking ability is much stronger after mastering English.

This is not to say that Chinese is a chaotic language. Many foreigners find that their creative thinking has improved after learning Chinese because they can now think outside the logical framework of English. And, needless to say, they find math easier after they learn Chinese.

The linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt once said:

“Every language is a unique worldview,” so people who speak different languages see the world completely differently.

If a person knows only one language all his life, he will never get rid of the bondage of his mother tongue, and many concepts will never be understood.

For example, if you do not learn Chinese, you will not understand the meaning of 仁.

So~~~

Even if you don’t have the need to communicate with Chinese people, learning Chinese well is still a good deal. After all, “a new outlook” is a great competitive power after all.

3 Native Mandarin Expressions

Now, after such a long introduction, we henceforth back to the headline of this post, to know 3 fundamental topics of native Mandarin expressions commonly used by Chinese people which are greeting, complimenting, and saying goodbye.

At the same time, I will introduce some cultural background to make it easier for you to understand the context in which the expressions should be used.

1, Greeting expression in Mandarin

1， 你好！（您好！）/ Nǐ hǎo (Nín hǎo)

Hello! How are you?

2，早上好！/ Zǎoshang hǎo

Good morning!

3，晚上好！/ Wǎnshang hǎo

Good evening!

4，晚安！/ Wǎnān

Good night!

5，最近怎么样！/ Zuìjìn zěnmeyàng

How are you doing?

6，最近忙吗？/ Zuìjìn máng ma

Are you busy?

最近: newly; nearest; recently; at a recent time; not long ago.

Ask about the latest situation.

7，好久不见，你最近怎么样！/ Hǎojiǔ bùjiàn, nǐ zuìjìn zěnmeyàng

Long time no see, how are you doing?

8，身体还好吗？/ Shēntǐ hái hǎo ma

How is your health?

9，身体还好吧！？ / Shēntǐ hái hǎo bā

How is your health!? （It falls on the good side.)

10，工作还顺利吗？/ Gōngzuò hái shùnlì ma

How is your work?

11，工作还好吧！？/ Gōngzuò hái hǎo bā

How is your work!? (It falls on the good side.)

Generally speaking, you don’t ask people for their 身体 (health) or 工作 (work) status when you meet them for the first time unless you have to know their’s in a particular scene.

12，您贵姓？/ Nín guìxìng

What’s your surname? (×)

May I have your name, please? (√)

It is not just asking about your surname but asking your name gently. The answer may be my surname is XXX, or my name is XXXX.

When Chinese people meet for the first time, they usually ask each other’s last name by saying 您贵姓 or simply 贵姓 instead of asking for a full name. Here 您 is the polite form of 你 and 贵姓 is literally translated as “honorable last name” to show respect. The old-fashioned reply is 免贵……whose literal meaning is “not honorable” as a modest response. Nowadays most people simply reply by saying 我姓……

13，免贵，姓王。/ Miǎn guì, xìng Wáng

 My surname is Wang. (免贵 is a self-modest way to introduce yourself.)

14，您叫什么（名字）？/ Nín jiào shénme (míngzi)

What’s your name?

Generally speaking, you don’t ask people for their full names when you meet them for the first time unless you have to know their names in a particular scene. Just ask with 您贵姓.

Chinese names are composed of two parts: the last name and the first name with the former proceeding the latter. Last names generally come from the father’s family and most of them contain one character.

Only about 100 Chinese family names are commonly used and thus you need to make a special effort to tell who is who.

It is rare that Chinese people address each other by his/her last name only.

On formal occasions, Chinese people often use official and professional titles plus last names to address each other, such as Manager Wang, Doctor Li, and Professor Liu, even among neighbors or close friends.

王明 / 王小明

王：first name, family name

明：second name

小明：second name

王教授 Professor Wang

王老师 Teacher Wang

15，小王 / 老李

王 and 李 are both family names, 小 means little, and 老 means old.

Among colleagues, friends, and acquaintances, 小 (little) and 老 (old) plus one’s last name are often used to address people.

小 plus last name is used to address young people and 老 plus last name is used to address people relatively elder than the addresser but not necessarily old in age. But 老 plus last name is generally not used to address women.

小王，早上好！(Good morning, Xiao Wang!)

老李，最近怎么样？(How are you doing, Lao Li?)

16，认识您很高兴！/ Rènshi nín hěn gāoxìng

Nice to meet you! （Emphasis on “meet”）

17, 很高兴认识您！/ Hěn gāoxìng rènshi nín

Nice/glad to meet you! (Emphasis on “glad”)

18，认识您我也很高兴！/ Rènshi nín wǒ yě hěn gāoxìng

Nice to meet you, too!

19，我来介绍一下儿。/ Wǒ lái jièshào yī xiàr

Let me introduce you.

20，这位是我的朋友（同学、同事…）。/ Zhè wèi shì wǒ de péngyou (tóngxué, tóngshì)

He/She is my friend (classmate, colleague…).

2, Complimenting expression in Mandarin

21，真好！ 真不错！/ Zhēn hǎo, Zhēn bùcuò

That’s really nice! So good.

22，哪里，哪里。/ Nǎlǐ, Nǎlǐ

I am far from that good.

23，还差得远呢！/ Hái chā de yuǎn ne

I am far from that good.

When faced with other’s compliments, many Chinese use 哪里, 哪里 as a response. Literally, it means “I am far from that good”. This does not mean that they don’t agree with the compliments; they just want to show their modesty. Otherwise, they will be considered too arrogant. Nowadays, some Chinese use “谢谢 (thank you)” to respond to other people’s compliments.

24，你吃了吗？/ Nǐ chī le ma

Have you eaten?

Be careful using this! But just around mealtime.

When two Chinese acquaintances come across each other, they may ask each other a casual question about the routine activity that the other party may be engaged in at the moment. 

For example, one may ask the other 吃了吗？ around mealtime. There is a good chance that after such addressing they will simply keep walking without waiting for any answer. Their questions actually don’t reflect the addressers’ curiosity about these issues.

Rather they are just common greeting expressions like 你好. Responses to such greetings might be 吃了 (I have eaten) or 还没吃 (Not yet).

3, Goodbye expression in Mandarin

25，再见！ (Zàijiàn)

See you!

26，您慢走。/ Nín mànzǒu

You walk slowly. (×)

Please take care. (√)

27，您走好。/ Nín zǒu hǎo

You walk well. (×)

Watch your steps, have a nice trip, and have a good day. (√)

28，我就不远送了。

I won't take you very far. (×)

Let’s say goodbye here. (√)

29，有空再来。

Do come again.

Chinese have their own culture for seeing visitors off. When a guest says goodbye, a Chinese host often accompanies the guest to the outside of the apartment or the house and won’t go back until the guest is out of sight. Sometimes, the host calls a taxi for the guest if necessary.

The further the host escorts the guest, the better the guest will feel. It is considered impolite if the host shuts the door immediately after the guest leave.

30，祝你一路顺风。/ Zhù nǐ yīlùshùnfēng

Wish you a good journey.

31，我来跟您告别。/ Wǒ lái gēn nín gàobié

I am here to say goodbye to you.

32，保持联系！/ Bǎochí liánxì

Keep in touch.

For the Chinese, hand-shaking is more common than hugging when you say goodbye or meet long-time not seen friends. It takes place between friends, acquaintances, colleagues, and business partners. People shake hands at their first meeting, reunion, farewell, and at the negotiation table.

Generally speaking, hand-shaking between different genders won’t last long and it is usually initiated by women.

Nowadays some people hug each other when meeting and saying goodbye.

These introductions are only brief and are provided to beginners who are just learning Chinese.

Learn Chinese, and open your new worldview.

Last, recommend a book for beginners: Chinese Phrases for Dummies