Ways to say it
| Chinese | Romanization (Wiktionary) | IPA | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 你好 | nǐ hǎo | /ni²¹⁴⁻³⁵ xɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/ (Mandarin, Standard Chinese, Sinological IPA) /ni⁵³ xau⁵³/ (Mandarin, Xi'an, Sinological IPA) |
|
| 您好 | nín hǎo | /nin³⁵ xɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/ (Mandarin, Standard Chinese, Sinological IPA) /nei̯¹³ hou̯³⁵/ (Cantonese, Guangzhou, Sinological IPA, Standard Cantonese, Hong Kong) |
polite |
| 你們好 / 你们好 | nǐmen hǎo | ||
| 好 | hǎo | /xɑʊ̯²¹⁴/ (Mandarin, Standard Chinese, Sinological IPA) /xau⁵³/ (Mandarin, Chengdu, Sinological IPA) |
|
| 嗨 | hāi | /xaɪ̯⁵⁵/ (Mandarin, Standard Chinese, Sinological IPA) /haːi̯⁵⁵/ (Cantonese, Guangzhou, Sinological IPA, Standard Cantonese, Hong Kong) |
|
| 哈囉 / 哈啰 | hāluó | ||
| 汝好 | lí hó | /nˡy³³ ho³³/ (Min Dong, Fuzhou, Sinological IPA) /li⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ hɤ⁴¹/ (Min Nan, Hokkien, Xiamen, Zhangzhou, Kaohsiung, Sinological IPA) |
Hokkien |
The standard and most common way to say hello in Mandarin Chinese is 你好. In casual settings, you may also use the phonetic loanwords 嗨 (hi) or 哈啰 (hello). If you have not seen someone for a while, you might use the phrase 好久不见 (long time no see).
What does it mean word for word?
In the standard form 你好, the first part 你 means "you" and the second part 好 means "good".
Which one should you use?
While 你好 is the standard greeting, 您好 is used specifically to show formal respect. 你们好 is used instead of 你好 when you are greeting more than one person.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
您好 is the polite form, which you should use when addressing an elder, a superior or someone you wish to show formal respect to. For casual, informal settings, you can use 嗨 or 哈啰. The slang term ciallo is also available for extremely informal use.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In the Dungan language, you can use ни хо, сэляму or хома. In Hokkien, the greeting is 汝好.
How does it change in a sentence?
To change the greeting from a single person to a group, add the suffix 们 to the pronoun 你 to form 你们好, which means "hello to you all".
How do you pronounce it?
你好 is pronounced nǐ hǎo.
When do people say it?
When greeting someone, you might also use 你怎么样 (how are you?) in informal settings or 你呢 (how about you?) as a friendly follow-up. If you want to wish someone well, you can say 加油! (good luck!). For specific morning greetings, use 早上好 (good morning).
Did you know?
- The English phrase 'long time no see' is actually a literal word-for-word translation of the Chinese greeting 好久不见, which entered the English language as a calque.
- When using the polite form 您好, the pronoun 您 is actually just the standard 'you' (你) with the 'heart' radical (心) added underneath it, literally embedding 'heart' into the word for 'you'.
- While 你好 is the standard greeting, many native speakers in China historically used 吃了吗? (Have you eaten?) as a way to say 'hello' or check in on someone's well-being.
Examples in context
- 你好，汤姆。Hello, Tom.This example shows how to use 你好 to greet Tom.Tatoeba #5092241 by mirrorvan, translation #54604 by Zifre
- 你好！林峰。Hello! Linfeng.This example shows how to use 你好 to greet Linfeng.Tatoeba #6149244 by xjjAstrus, translation #6276580 by Kiwi
- 你好！明惠。Hello! Minghui.This example shows how to use 你好 to greet Minghui.Tatoeba #6149245 by xjjAstrus, translation #6276550 by Kiwi
- 43 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Haoran meets Zihan at a coffee shop.
- 浩然 Haoran你好。nǐ hǎo.Hello.
- 梓涵 Zihan你好，浩然。nǐ hǎo, hào rán.Hello, Haoran.
- 浩然 Haoran你最近怎么样？nǐ zuì jìn zěn me yàng?How have you been lately?
- 梓涵 Zihan我很好，谢谢。wǒ hěn hǎo, xiè xie.I am very well, thank you.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “hello” translations and entries 你好, 您好, 好, 嗨, 汝好, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
