Learn Chinese Greetings: 10 Essential Phrases for Beginners

Every conversation in Mandarin starts with a greeting. Learn these 10 phrases and you can say hello, ask how someone is, thank them and say goodbye in natural Chinese.

The 10 Essential Chinese Greetings

Click any character to open it in HanziBook, watch its stroke animation, and download a free practice copybook.

• 你好 nǐ hǎo — Hello / Hi
  你好！我叫小明。 (nǐ hǎo! wǒ jiào Xiǎo Míng) — Hello! My name is Xiaoming.
• 你好吗 nǐ hǎo ma — How are you?
  你好吗？我很好，谢谢。 (nǐ hǎo ma? wǒ hěn hǎo, xièxie) — How are you? I'm fine, thank you.
• 很好 hěn hǎo — Very good / Fine
  我很好。你呢？ (wǒ hěn hǎo. nǐ ne?) — I'm very well. And you?
• 谢谢 xièxiè — Thank you
  谢谢你的帮助！ (xièxie nǐ de bāngzhù!) — Thank you for your help!
• 不客气 bù kèqi — You're welcome
  谢谢！ (xièxie!) — 不客气！— Thank you! — You're welcome!
• 对不起 duìbuqǐ — I'm sorry / Excuse me
  对不起，我迟到了。 (duì bu qǐ, wǒ chídào le) — I'm sorry, I'm late.
• 没关系 méi guānxi — No problem / It's OK
  对不起！ (duì bu qǐ!) — 没关系！— Sorry! — No problem!
• 再见 zàijiàn — Goodbye / See you
  再见！明天见！ (zàijiàn! míngtiān jiàn!) — Goodbye! See you tomorrow!
• 早上好 zǎoshang hǎo — Good morning
  早上好！今天天气很好。 (zǎoshang hǎo! jīntiān tiānqì hěn hǎo) — Good morning! The weather is great today.
• 晚上好 wǎnshang hǎo — Good evening
  晚上好！今天怎么样？ (wǎnshang hǎo! jīntiān zěnmeyàng?) — Good evening! How was your day?

A Full Greeting Conversation

Here is how a typical greeting exchange sounds in Mandarin:

A: 你好！(Nǐ hǎo!) — Hello!
B: 你好！你好吗？(Nǐ hǎo! Nǐ hǎo ma?) — Hello! How are you?
A: 我很好，谢谢！你呢？(Wǒ hěn hǎo, xièxiè! Nǐ ne?) — I'm fine, thank you! And you?
B: 我也很好！(Wǒ yě hěn hǎo!) — I'm fine too!
A: 再见！(Zàijiàn!) — Goodbye!

The particle 呢 (ne) bounces a question back. It means "And you?" or "What about you?". It appears constantly in everyday Chinese conversation.

也 (yě) means "also" or "too" and follows the subject: 我也很好 (wǒ yě hěn hǎo) — I am also fine.

Why Tones Matter in Greetings

Chinese is a tonal language: the same syllable with a different tone is a different word. All four tones appear in your very first greeting:

你 nǐ — 3rd tone (dip and rise) → "you"
好 hǎo — 3rd tone → "good / well"

When two 3rd tones follow each other in speech, the first changes to a 2nd tone (rising): nǐ hǎo becomes ní hǎo in natural speech. This is called tone sandhi — don't memorise it as a rule, it will come naturally with practice.

The good news: most greetings are short phrases with clear tones. Learning them by ear, and by copying out the characters, is the fastest way to correct pronunciation.

How to Practice Chinese Greetings

1. Write every character by hand — Handwriting activates different memory pathways than typing. Use HanziBook to generate a free printable copybook for any character — model squares, trace guides, and blank practice squares.
2. Watch the stroke animation — Chinese characters follow strict stroke-order rules. Watching the animation first means your hand learns the correct flow from the start.
3. Use them in real conversation immediately — Even if you only know ten words, use them daily. Greeting someone with 你好 and responding to 谢谢 with 不客气 builds real confidence faster than hours of study.

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