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| Chinese Greetings |
1. Say hello to a friend in a very casual way.
ài hài hèi hā lóu
唉 嗨 嘿 哈喽
Hi Hi Hey Hello
2. Call someone's name, surname, or “surname + title”, such as:
Lǐ Nà
李娜
Li Na
Xiǎo Zhāng
小张
Xiao Zhang
Wáng lǎo shī
王老师
Teacher Wang
Zhāng shī fu
张师傅
Mr. Zhang
Zhào yī shēng
赵医生
Doctor Zhao
3. When you run into someone you know, you can say the following greetings.
Qù nǎr a?
去 哪儿 啊？
Where are you going?
Chī le ma?
吃 了 吗? （around meal time）
Have you had your meal?
4. When you meet or telephone someone whom you haven’t met or contacted for a period, you can greet by saying:
Máng shén me ne?
忙 什 么 呢？
What are you busy with?
Zuì jìn zěn me yàng?
最 近 怎 么 样？
How is everything going recently?
Jiā li dōu hǎo ma?
家 里 都 好 吗？
How is your family?
5. Greet someone by asking an obvious behavior, the greeted people will give a smile or say “嗯(ňg)” to acknowledge and agree.
Chū qù ya?
出去呀？
Going out？(You saw someone was going out.)
Huí lái le?
回来了？
You’re back？(You saw someone coming back.)
Mǎi cài le?
买菜了？
You bought groceries？(You saw someone bringing some groceries.)
Shàng bān qù ya?
上班去呀？
Going to work？(You saw someone is going to work around working time.)
6. Say “早(zǎo)” to someone you are familiar with.
When you meet someone you know well in the morning, you can just say “早(zǎo)” instead of “你好(nǐ hǎo)” or “早上好 (zǎo shang hǎo)” because the two phrases are a little bit formal.
7.Say “喂(wéi)” when you answer a phone.
Say “喂(wéi)+address” when you answer a phone from someone you know, which means “Hello, XXX?” (Informal greeting)
However, if you answer a phone from a customer at work, you should politely say “你好(Nǐ hǎo)” or “喂，你好(Wéi, nǐ hǎo)”. (Informal greeting)
Learn more about greetings in Chinese, please visit:
