Beginner Lesson 11.1 – Greetings in Chinese

Grammar 1: Polite Way to Say You in Chinese 您 · HSK 1

nín 您 you(singular, respectfully)

您 is the polite way to say you in Chinese. We can use 您 to address a person when you want to be polite and respectful. It is only used to address one person, which means we cannot say nínmen 您们. Here are some example sentences of using nín 您 instead of nǐ 你.

Grammar 2: Greetings in Chinese with "Time Word + 好" · HSK 1

Use Time Word + 好 to say a greetings in Chinese for different times of the day.

We will learn more time words in Chinese in Lesson 14.1.

Grammar 3: 晚安 vs. 晚上好 · HSK 3

Even though both wǎn'ān 晚安 and wǎnshanghǎo 晚上好 are greetings during the evening or at night, they are for different situations. 晚上好 is used when greeting people during the evening or at night and can be translated as "good evening". 晚安 on the other hand, is usually used when you want to say bye to someone during night time. It is mostly likely used right before going to bed, and can be translated as "good night".