同学们好
tóng xué men hǎo
In Chinese, "hello students" is said as 同学们好 (tóng xué men hǎo).
This phrase is a greeting used by a teacher to address a group of students. The specific word order of placing the subject before 好 is the standard way to perform a formal greeting to a group in a classroom setting. It can also be translated as "Hello, classmates!"
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of 同学 (tóng xué), which literally means "classmate" but is the standard way to address students in a classroom setting and the suffix 们 (men), which is a plural marker used to turn "student" into "students".
How does it change in a sentence?
The suffix 们 is added to 同学 to make the subject plural.
How do you pronounce it?
tóng xué men hǎo
When do people say it?
When a teacher greets the class with 同学们好, the students typically respond by saying 老师好 (hello teacher).
Did you know?
- The greeting 同学们好 often triggers a synchronized physical response. In many traditional Chinese classrooms, the moment the teacher says this, the entire class will stand up at the exact same time to show respect.
- The social bond of being 同学 (tóng xué) does not expire upon graduation. In many social circles, adults will continue to address old school friends as 'classmate' to signal a deep, lifelong connection formed during their studies.
- The plural marker 们 in 同学们 is strictly limited to humans. Using it for animals or objects would be a grammatical error, unlike the English 's' which is universal.
Examples in context
- 同学们好，请坐。Tóngxuémen hǎo, qǐng zuò.Hello students, please sit down.
- 同学们好，今天我们学汉语。Tóngxuémen hǎo, jīntiān wǒmen xué Hànyǔ.Hello students, today we are studying Chinese.
- 老师走进教室说：同学们好。Lǎoshī zǒujìn jiàoshì shuō: Tóngxuémen hǎo.The teacher walked into the classroom and said: hello students.
Example conversation
A teacher enters the classroom to start the day.
- 俊杰 Junjie同学们好！Tóngxuémen hǎo!Hello students!
- 雨婷 Yuting老师好！Lǎoshī hǎo!Hello teacher!
- 俊杰 Junjie雨婷，请把书打开。Yǔtíng, qǐng bǎ shū dǎkāi.Yuting, please open your book.
- 雨婷 Yuting好的，俊杰也打开了。Hǎo de, Jùnjié yě dǎkāi le.Okay, Junjie has opened it too.
