Learn How to Greet People in Chinese

你好(nǐ hǎo)

The most commonly used phrase for greeting in Chinese is 你好. 你 means “you”, 好 means “good”, so 你好 literally means “you good”. In English, it simply means “Hello”.

In China, people use 你好 to show respect. You can say 你好 to someone you meet for the first time as well as people you know. When you have a question or ask somebody to do you a favor such as asking time, you always begin by saying 你好, as a way to draw someone’s attention.

你好 is kind of a neutral word, which is seldom used among very close friends or your families. Just as in English language, you often say “Hey, buddy!” instead of “Hello” to your best friends.

In Chinese, there is another word that has exactly the same meaning as 你好. It is 您好(nín hǎo). The only difference between 你好 and 您好 is that 您好 is more formal, usually used in formal occasions or to address people that are older than you.

你好吗(nǐ hǎo ma)？

To ask someone “How are you?” in Chinese, you simply put 吗 after 你好. 吗 in Chinese is a “question word” which doesn’t have a particular meaning. When a statement is followed by 吗， that statement becomes a question. For example: "你是小王吗?(nǐ shì xiǎowáng ma？)" means “Are you Xiao Wang?” "你吃了吗?(nǐ chīle ma？)" means “Did you eat?”

How do we reply to "你好吗?" in Chinese?

If you are felling fine, you can say 我很好(wǒ hěnhǎo) which means “I am very good.”

If you are feeling bad, you can say 我不好(wǒ bùhǎo) which means “I am feeling bad” and then you can go on by explaining exactly why you are feeling bad.

If you are neither feeling very good or very bad, you can say 一般般(yī bān bān) or 还好(hái hǎo). Both of these phrases mean “just ok”.