喂
/weɪ̯⁵¹/
The Chinese phrase for "hello on the phone" is 喂.
喂 is a simple and common way to answer the phone in China.
Which one should you use?
Unlike the general greeting 你好, 喂 is almost exclusively used for telephonic or radio communication and is not used to greet someone in person.
How do you pronounce it?
The pronunciation is /weɪ̯⁵¹/.
Did you know?
- The character 喂 also functions as a verb meaning 'to feed' someone or an animal, creating a strange linguistic link between answering a phone and giving food.
- While 喂 is a polite phone greeting, using it to get a stranger's attention in person is often perceived as rude or aggressive, similar to shouting 'Hey!' in English.
- When answering the phone, some people say 喂 twice, as in 喂喂, to signal that the connection is poor and they are checking if the other person can hear them.
Examples in context
- 喂，请问是王先生吗？Wéi, qǐngwèn shì Wáng xiānsheng ma?Hello, may I ask if this is Mr. Wang?
- 喂，你找谁？Wéi, nǐ zhǎo shéi?Hello, who are you looking for?
- 喂，等一下。Wéi, děng yīxià.Hello, please wait a moment.
Example conversation
Yuting calls Junjie to ask about a meeting.
- 雨婷 Yuting喂，俊杰，你在吗？Wéi, Jùnjié, nǐ zài ma?Hello, Junjie, are you there?
- 俊杰 Junjie喂，雨婷，我在。Wéi, Yǔtíng, wǒ zài.Hello, Yuting, I am here.
- 雨婷 Yuting明天的事情准备好了吗？Míngtiān de shìqing zhǔnbèi hǎole ma?Is everything ready for tomorrow?
- 俊杰 Junjie都准备好了。Dōu zhǔnbèi hǎole.Everything is ready.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry 喂, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
