How To Say Hello In Chinese?

The most common and simple way to say Hello in Chinese

One of the first things when we study a new language is learning how to greet people. In Chinese, we usually say 你好 [nǐ hǎo] when we greet people. And if you want to be more polite, you can say 您好 [nín hǎo]. And if you say hello to many people, you should say 大家好 [dà jiā hǎo]. Today learn "How To Say Hello In Chinese?".
Here are some common expressions of hello in Chinese below:

1. 你好 [nǐ hǎo] – Hello. Hi.

2. 您好 [nín hǎo] – Hello. It is a polite way to say hello in Chinese.

3. 大家好 [dà jiā hǎo] – Say hello to many people.

4. 早上好 [zǎo shàng hǎo] / 早 [zǎo] – Good morning.

5. 下午好 [xià wǔ hǎo] – Good afternoon.

6. 晚上好 [wǎn shàng hǎo] – Good evening.

7. 嗨 [hāi] – Hi.

8. 嘿 [hēi] – Hey.

9. 哈喽 [hā lóu] – Hello!

10. 你好吗？[nǐ hǎo ma] – How are you?

How to Say Hello on the Phone in Chinese

喂 [wéi] – Hello. It is often used when answering the phone.
喂 [wéi] is widely accepted when answering the phone, and if you want to be polite you can add 你好 [nǐ hǎo] or 您好 [nín hǎo] after it.

For example:

Unique ways of saying hello in Chinese according to Chinese culture

In ancient China, Chinese people didn’t have enough food to eat, thus people were most concerned about whether a person was able to get enough food. As time went on, the habit of asking 你吃了吗？[nǐ chī le ma？] “Have you eaten?” became a common way to greet and has been passed on to many generations till now. If you have eaten already, you can answer 吃了，你呢？[ chī le, nǐ ne？], which means “I’ve eaten, how about you?” If you haven’t eaten yet, you can simply respond 还没 [ hái méi], which means “not yet.”

1. 你吃了吗？[nǐ chī le ma？] – Have you eaten?
   For example:

2. 你要去哪里？[nǐ yào qù nǎ lǐ？] – Where are you going?
   For example:

3. 在干嘛呢？[zài gàn má ne？] – What are you doing?
   For example:

Say hello to people that you haven’t seen in a while and more in Chinese

If you want to greet people that you haven’t seen in a while and more, you can express your miss inside your sentences.

1. 最近好吗？[zuì jìn hǎo ma？] – How are you these days?

2. 最近怎么样？[zuì jìn zěn me yàng？] – How is it going recently?
   For example:

3. 好久不见! [hǎo jiǔ bú jiàn!] – Long time no see!

Some other formal expressions of hello in Chinese

1. 幸会 [xìng huì] – A traditional way to say hello in Chinese.

2. 久仰 [jiǔ yǎng] – It is usually used among people when they meet for the first time.

3. 久闻大名 [jiǔ wén dà míng] – It means “I have heard much about you”. It is often used to express one’s respect when they meet somebody for the first time.

Some responses to hello in Chinese

1. 我还好 [wǒ hái hǎo] – I’m all right.

2. 我最近有点忙 [wǒ zuì jìn yǒu diǎn máng] – I’ve been a little busy recently.

3. 还不错 [hái bú cuò] – Not too bad.

4. 不太好 [bú tài hǎo] – Not so good.

Want to learn real Chinese?

Contact Native-Chinese teacher, we provide native mandarin speaker as your private tutor. Here’s form for contact.