Why Chinese People usually DON’T Say Nǐ Hǎo (你好, Hello) to Each Other

4 Insider Greeting Tips You Must Know!

Eggbun Chat to Learn Chinese teaches how to say hello in Chinese in different contexts

Chinese people say “nǐ hǎo” when meeting someone (especially foreigner) for the first time , answering the phone and writing a letter. For Chinese people, “nǐ hǎo” seems a little bit too formal and creates a distance.

Let’s learn 4 insider greeting tips!

1) Nǐ hǎo (你好) vs. Nín hǎo (您好)

Nín (您, you) is the polite form of nǐ (你, you). Instead of saying “nǐ hǎo” (你好, hello), one should say “nín hǎo” (您好, hello) (formal and polite) when meeting a respectable elderly for the first time.

Tips: Most of the Chinese honorifics are no longer used after Cultural Revolution, especially in the spoken form*. Nowadays, nín (您, you) is probably the most commonly used Chinese honorifics.

“Zǎo” (早, morning) is the short form of “zǎo ān” (早安, good morning)

2) Use greetings associated with time of the day!

The most common morning greeting is “zǎo ān” (早安, good morning). It is a fixed expression, which literally means “morning peace”. However, there are more variations of “zǎo ān” than you can ever imagine. For example, “zǎo” (早, morning) is the short form of “zǎo ān” and adding “ā” (啊) or “ya” (呀) after “zǎo” makes it sound more casual.

Tips: Unlike morning greetings, xiàwǔ hǎo (下午好, good afternoon), wǔ’ān (午安, good afternoon), bàngwǎn hǎo (傍晚好, good evening) or wǎnshàng hǎo (晚上好, good evening) are more frequently used in a formal setting.

Professional tittles are also forms of greetings in Chinese!

3) Say their names/nicknames/titles/kinship terms!

In Chinese culture, it’s very common to greet others by making eye contact and address them by names, nicknames, titles or kinship terms. Since addressing one’s full Chinese names is way too formal, friends and colleagues often call one another just by xìng (姓, surname) or míng (名, given name). To make it sound more casual, Chinese people even combine a xìng (姓) and a nickname prefix to make a nickname. Lǎo (老, old), xiǎo (小, small), dà (大, big) and ā (阿) are fairly common nickname markers added in front of xìng (姓).

Look at the following conversation extracted from Chat to Learn Chinese app:

General Director Li brushes past Manager Wang in the company:

Manager Wang: Lĭ zǒng hǎo! (李总好!, How are you, General (Director) Li!)

General (Director) Li: Wáng jīnglǐ! (王经理!, Manager Wang!)

Screenshot of Eggbun Chat to Learn Chinese

Tips: Names, gender specific titles, professional titles and kinship terms themselves are forms of greetings, which can be used alone to greet Chinese people.

4) Greet like a Chinese by referring to the current activities!

“Nǐ chī le méiyǒu?” (你吃了没有?, Have you eaten yet?) is probably the most frequently used Chinese greeting. Close friends may even ask “Qù nǎ?” (去哪?, Where are you going?), “Gànmá ne?” (干嘛呢?, What are you doing?) or “Máng shénme ne? (忙什么呢?, What are you busy with?). Some Chinese greetings might seem quite nosy from non-Chinese perspective, but it is not a harass, it is more like showing care and concern. Just take those questions as a conversation starter. Do NOT try to tell every single detail.

Tips: Chinese people also greet by “telling” others about what has just happened, e.g. “Chūqù le.” (出去了。, (I’m) going out.) and “Huílái le.” (回来了。, (I’m) back.)

Now, you have learned how to greet like a Chinese by using time of the day, names, titles, nicknames or talking about current activities. For audios and more details on insider greeting tips, please download Chat to Learn Chinese app on Google Play Store or IOS App Store.

* References: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_honorifics

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