早上好
zǎoshanghǎo
In Chinese, good morning is 早上好. If unsure, use 早上好 (zǎoshanghǎo). Wiktionary also lists 早 (zǎo) and 早安 (zǎo'ān).
Meaning: when seeing someone for the first time in the morning (intj)
Ways to say it
| Chinese | Romanization (Wiktionary) |
|---|---|
| 早上好 | zǎoshanghǎo |
| 早 | zǎo |
| 早安 | zǎo'ān |
| 你早 | nǐ zǎo |
These phrases are used when seeing someone for the first time in the morning.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase 早上好 is composed of 早上 (morning) and 好 (good). The phrase 早安 is composed of 早 (early/morning) and 安 (peace/safety).
Which one should you use?
While 早上好 is a standard greeting, 早安 often sounds slightly more formal or poetic and is frequently used in written messages or broadcasts.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
早 and 早啊 are informal ways to say Good Morning. The single syllable 早 is a very common, casual way to say 'morning!' to friends or colleagues. 早上好 is a formal way to say Good Morning.
How does it change in a sentence?
To say 'Good morning, everyone,' you place the word for everyone (大家) before the greeting, as in 大家早上好.
How do you pronounce it?
zǎoshanghǎo
Did you know?
- In some ancient texts, the character 蚤, which now means 'flea', was used to mean 'early' or 'morning'.
- The character 早 is visually constructed from the components for 'sun' 日 and 'first' 甲, representing the moment the sun first appears.
- In modern Chinese, greetings often avoid the word 'I' or 'you' entirely, allowing a single syllable like 早 to function as a complete sentence.
Examples in context
- 你好啊！早上好！Hello! Good morning!This sentence shows how to use 早 in a greeting.Tatoeba #10552179 by GlossaMatik, translation #435082 by lukaszpp
- 早！Good morning!This sentence is a very short, casual way to use 早.Tatoeba #2032292 by ydcok, translation #329713 by YURY0608
- 大家早上好。Good morning, everybody.This sentence shows how to address a group using 早.Tatoeba #399028 by kellenparker, translation #22122 by CK
- 7 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Xiaowen and Haoran meet at the office entrance.
- 晓雯 Xiaowen浩然，早上好！Hàorán, zǎoshang hǎo!Good morning, Haoran!
- 浩然 Haoran早上好，晓雯。Zǎoshang hǎo, Xiǎowén.Good morning, Xiaowen.
- 晓雯 Xiaowen你喝咖啡了吗？Nǐ hē kāfēi le ma?Have you had coffee yet?
- 浩然 Haoran还没呢，一起去吧。Hái méi ne, yīqǐ qù ba.Not yet, let's go together.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “good morning” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries 早, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
