Hello in Chinese | Different ways to Say Hello in Mandarin

Hello in Chinese 

The Chinese Hello brings millions of people together as we know Chinese is the most spoken language in the world. When you are learning a new language, the first thing we usually learn is Hello. Even if you can’t pronounce it properly, Chinese people will still appreciate and be pleased to hear that you have made an effort to speak their language. If you want to study abroad, I recommend you consider China 🙂 there so much to explore but you can start by watching these movies

One of the first things when learning Chinese language is ‘How to greet someone? Right? The most simple and plain way is to say nĭhǎo (你好). Chinese speakers use nĭhǎo for greeting people which is quite common. That means ‘you good,’ and nĭhǎo can use in a variety of situations.

Say Hello in Chinese officially.

If you pay attention to Chinese people, they don’t use nĭn hǎo (您好) because this’s the formal way of greeting someone. But if you are a beginner in learning the Chinese language, you can use nĭn hǎo (您好) for greeting someone who is higher in rank. Chinese speakers normally use this one when they are formally meeting someone for the first time.

It is true that for the English Native speakers, it becomes difficult for them to learn the Chinese language. But We will teach you in a way that you can learn the literal translation of the Chinese language. Let’s start with the short words and phrases to give you a strong grip.

But there are several ways to greet in Chinese language and you can explore some of the common mandarin phrases.

Let us learn all of them.

If you want to be polite while saying ‘Hi,’ you can use

Hello in Chinese – 您好 – Nín hǎo

If you are a new Chinese speaker, you can use 您好 (nínhǎo) to show respect and politeness. The difference is that the version of you is polite here. 您好 is sincere and more heartfelt. You can use 您好 in the written form as a formal way of greeting.

If you want to carry on the conservation, you can further say

Hello in Chinese – 你好吗? – Nǐ hǎo ma? How are you?  

If you want to say it more politely, it can be

您好吗? – Nín hǎo ma? also means Hello in Chinese

The word 您 shows politeness. 

Chinese uses this word 你好 when you usually greet friends.

For example, you want to greet your teacher.

老师好 lǎoshī hǎo  Hello teacher!

How to say Hello in Chinese to a group of people?

In Chinese, you will use the words 大家好 (dàjiā hǎo). 大家 that means ‘Hello Everybody.’ You want to say Good Afternoon, you will say 下午好 (xiàwǔhǎo).

If you know people and you want to carry on the conservation. You can ask them few more questions like,

你吃了吗? (Nǐ chīle ma?) “Have you eaten?

The Chinese translation is the literal translation of words that means “Have you eaten?”

Native Chinese people often ask this question. If you are looking for the answer, then it would be,

吃了  – chīle, “I have”

Or you reply like that

“chī le, nǐ ne?” (I’ve eaten, how about you?)

How to greet a crowd in Chinese?

Earlier, you have learned that how to initiate a conversation with simple ‘hello.’ But if you want to say hello to a group of people, you can say,

大家好 = dàjiā hǎo = Hello everyone

大家好 is the right words to use, or you can say 

你们好 = nǐmen hǎo = hello everyone

How to greet people at different times of day in the Chinese Language

You should learn different expressions and phrases to say a warm hello to a local Chinese. If it’s the morning, day, or nighttime, the greeting varies. So, don’t get supersize if someone greets on what time of the day it is.

 How do you say Hello in Chinese in the morning?

It’s easy. Just by adding a few words, you can greet a native Chinese effectively.

早上好 = zǎoshang hǎo = Good morning

You can only use this in the Early Morning, be careful.

早 (zǎo) refers to the early morning.

Now, how to say Good Afternoon in Mandarin?

Let’s assume that you are at your friend’s home and you want to greet them. Now, how would you do?

朋友下午好 = péngyǒu xiàwǔ hǎo = Good afternoon my friend

Do you think that the Chinese language is easy? But only if you understand things logically.

What left? Good Evening in Chinese Language?

Okay, let’s learn this part too.

If you are meeting someone in the evening, you will say

晚上好 = wǎnshàng hǎo = Good evening

Hi and Hello, Cool Chinese Expressions

Chinese people have added several ways to say Hello especially young people who have created their expression. Or you can say, a reflection of a western greeting in the Chinese language.

What to say when you pick up the phone call?

For this situation, you will use the simple word hello 喂 wèi, when answering your phone call. This is a simple and cute way to greet someone either you know them or not. Even the age doesn’t matter in this case.

For instance:

喂，请问是谁？

Wèi, qǐngwèn shì shéi?

Hello, who is it?

我是小王。请问王老师在家吗？

Wǒ shì xiǎo wáng. Qǐngwèn wáng lǎoshī zàijiā ma?

This is Xiaowang speaking. Is Ms Wang at home?

Different Pronunciation of Hello

You will hear the different pronunciation of hello in Chinese, but all means the same. But don’t get confused. Young people love to say 哈罗 hā luō Hello. Youngster browed this word from the English.

哈罗，我亲爱的姐姐！

Hā luō, wǒ qīn’ài de jiějiě!

Hello, my dear sister

I know what you are thinking next,

If you want to sound COOL, then how to hello? 

It is so simple and attractive to say hello in a cool way. Chinese have borrowed the hello word from the English language. A simple Hi can make a huge difference in your language. 嗨 hāi Hi, you will hear a lot this word among the young Chinese people.

If you want to carry on the conservation after saying Hi,

You can use the following expressions:

If you are formally meeting with someone you are familiar with, you can use 

你怎么样? – Nǐ zěnmeyàng?

Means, what’s up or How do you do?

Or you can further add

幸会 – Xìnghuì

That means “nice to meet you.”

How do you say, “How are you these days”?

A delicate and short explanation that’s,

最近好吗？Zuì jìn hào mǎ

Or you can ask,

最近过得怎样呀？Zuìjìnguò dé zěnyàng ya?

How has life recently?

After saying hello, what would be the next expression?

Especially when you are meeting with your old friends. A very positive greeting would be

好久不见！Hǎo jiǔ bú jiàn

That means, Long time no see!

This is the literal translation in the Chinese language.

Hello, teacher!

As a student in China, you should learn how to greet your teacher. You can greet your teacher by saying 老师好 (lǎoshī hǎo), which means Hello, teacher. This is the literal translation of the Chinese words in the English language. 

Let’s repeat,

Hello in Chinese – Different ways of saying it

1. = 你好 =（nǐ hǎo）

– Polite Form –Hello. = 您好 =（nín hǎo）

Hello, everyone. = 大家好。=（dà jiā hǎo）

Different forms to say ‘Hi,’

1. = 嗨。= (hai)
2. = 哈喽。=（hā lo）
3. = 嘿。=（hēi）

Hello on the phone = 喂？= (wéi)

What if you want to say, Have a good day?  

The translation would be the same as you say, ‘Have a good day.’

“Have a good day!” = 祝你度过美好的一天！

(Zhù nǐ dù guò měi hǎo de yī tiān!)

Simple Responses in the Chinese language?

The simple response to hello varies depending upon the situation.

Simple words can be:

Hao: good

Hen Hao: very good

Bu Hao: not good (bad)

Xie Xie: thank you

Small conservation between two fellows:

You: Ni hao! (hello)

Friend: Ni hao ma? (how are you?)

You: Wo hen hao! Xie Xie. Ni ne? (I am very good, thanks. And you?)

Friend: Hao. Xie Xie. (Good. Thanks.)

Say Goodbye in Chinese:

In Mandarin Chinese, you can say zài jiàn – 再见 that means GoodBye. 

You can use other words to say Goodbye, just like we say in the English language.

1. míng tiān jiàn = 明天见 = see you tomorrow.
2. yī huĭr jiàn = 会儿见 = see you later.
3. huí tóu jiàn = 回头见 = see you later. 
4. xià cì jiàn = 下次见 = see you next time.
5. zài huì = 再会 = see you later.
6. gào cí = 告辞 = see you later.
7. Good-bye. 再见。（zài jiàn）
8. Bye-bye. 拜拜。（bái bái）
9. See you later. 待会见。（dāi huì jiàn)

Final Words:

In the Chinese language, there are countless ways to say Hello. Thousands of greeting phrases are used to say Hello. Nĭhǎo is the most common and simple word used to say Hello. If you want to show some politeness that it would be 您好 | Nínhǎo | Hello (polite). When you are answering the call, you can say 喂 | Wéi. 

If you want to greet a group of people, the Chinese translation would be 大家好 | Dàjiā hǎo | Hello everybody! If you want to sound cool or you have conservation with a young Chinese then it would be 嗨 = Hāi = Hi!, 嘿 = Hēi = Hey!, 哈喽 = Hālóu = Hello!.

You can use different phrases as the day like in the morning you can use 早上好 = zǎoshang hǎo = Good morning. The afternoon would be 下午好 = Xiàwǔhǎo = Good afternoon!. In the evening time, it would be 晚上好 = Wǎnshànghǎo = Good evening!