Beginner Lesson 11.1 – Greetings in Chinese

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Greetings In Chinese And The Polite Way To Say You In Chinese

Learn useful greetings in Chinese such as hello, goodbye, good evening, good morning and good night. And be able to use the polite way to say you in Chinese.

  • Polite way to say you in Chinese: 您
  • Time Words in Chinese (I): 早上, 晚上. See also Time Words in Chinese (II).
  • Greetings in Chinese

VOCABULARY


EXPRESSIONS


GRAMMAR


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 你.

S V O
1

you
hǎo

good
nín

(polite) you
hǎo

good
2

I
rènshi
认识
know


you


I
rènshi
认识
know
nín

(polite) you

 

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.

TIME WORD
zǎoshang
早上
morning
hǎo

good; well
Good morning
wǎnshang
晚上
evening; night
hǎo

good; well
Good evening

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".

9 Comments
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Tyson-Kenya-254Premium Student February 3, 2024 at 2:12 am

老师好。 can you say? 早上好吗? or 晚上好吗?

AlePremium Student May 16, 2022 at 11:25 am

Why in Google translate or Pleco app 上 maintains the 4th tone even when combined with 晚 and here is shown as a 5th tone?
Thank you

ChineseFor.UsAcademic Team May 17, 2022 at 9:20 am

Sorry for the confusion.

The main reference that we use is 现代汉语词典 Xiàndài Hànyǔ Cídiǎn, A Dictionary of Current Chinese or Contemporary Chinese Dictionary, published by Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. We also use the HSK vocabulary book published by China’s State Language Affairs Commission.

According to these two resources, 晚上 is marked as wǎnshang.

AlePremium Student May 18, 2022 at 1:47 am

So both in 早上 and 晚上 it becomes 5th tone?

ChineseFor.UsAcademic Team May 19, 2022 at 5:41 am

According to the above mentioned references, 早上 is zǎoshang and 晚上 is wǎnshang.

SuzyPremium Student October 4, 2021 at 5:13 am

i learned the haos alot better!thx!zai jian!

Giuseppe LamaPremium Student May 20, 2020 at 10:55 am

我: 你好妈妈爸爸哥哥
我:早上好
哥哥:早上好Giuseppe,你好
Giuseppe:早上好Paola,你好
妈妈:你好Paola,晚上好
爸爸:再见妈妈,我爱你

Nuno MartinsPremium Student July 14, 2018 at 6:57 am

老师好。
I have a question. The correct structural phrase to greet (for example) your father would be:
爸爸早上好 or 早上好爸爸?
姐姐 力力。

都可以。 dōu kěyǐ
Both are okay!

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