嗨
hāi/xaɪ̯⁵⁵/
In Chinese, "hi to a friend" is expressed as 嗨 (hāi).
嗨 is an informal expression used to say hi, directly equivalent to the English greeting. It is primarily used among friends and young people.
Which one should you use?
While 你好 (nǐ hǎo) is the most common and standard way to say hello in Chinese, 嗨 is much more casual and specifically mimics the English "hi".
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
嗨 is an informal loanword from English. For a more standard approach, you may use 你好. Other informal options include 嘿 (hēi), which is similar to saying "hey" or "hi" in English and 喂 (wèi), which is an informal greeting used especially in phone conversations.
How do you pronounce it?
The romanization is hāi.
Did you know?
- In very casual settings, some young people may skip the greeting entirely and instead ask 吃了吗 (chī le ma), which means 'Have you eaten?'
- The character 嗨 can also be used as an onomatopoeia to describe the sound of heavy breathing or gasping.
- While 嗨 is a friendly greeting, the same character is used in the word 嗨皮, a playful slang version of the English word 'happy'.
Examples in context
- 嗨，好久不见！Hāi, hǎojiǔ bùjiàn!Hi, long time no see!
- 嗨，快进来吧。Hāi, kuài jìnlái ba.Hi, come on in.
Example conversation
Wei sees Zihan at a coffee shop.
- 伟 Wei嗨，梓涵！Hāi, Zǐhán!Hi, Zihan!
- 梓涵 Zihan嗨，伟！好巧啊。Hāi, Wěi! Hǎoqiǎo a.Hi, Wei! What a coincidence.
- 伟 Wei你也在喝咖啡吗？Nǐ yě zài hē kāfēi ma?Are you drinking coffee too?
- 梓涵 Zihan对，我也想喝点甜的。Duì, wǒ yě xiǎng hē diǎn tián de.Yes, I also want something sweet.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry 嗨, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
