你好嗎？
nei5 hou2 maa3?
How are you? In Cantonese is 你好嗎？ (nei5 hou2 maa3?)
The phrase 你好嗎？ is a standard way to inquire about someone's well-being. However, in many casual Cantonese social settings, people prefer to ask about specific things like whether you have eaten or how work is going.
Which one should you use?
While 你好嗎？ is grammatically correct, it is often perceived as more formal or 'textbook' than the casual greetings used in daily Cantonese conversation. For a more casual approach, you can use the colloquial Lei5 hou2 aa? or use Gin3 hou2 mou5? to mean "How's it going?" and is used between friends.
How do you pronounce it?
nei5 hou2 maa3?
Did you know?
- In very casual settings, Cantonese speakers might omit the 'how are you' part entirely and simply greet a friend by commenting on their appearance, such as 'you look fat' or 'you look thin'.
- The character 好 in 你好嗎？ is a compound of the radicals for 'woman' and 'child'. Historically, this combination represented the ideal of a balanced and happy family unit.
- In Hong Kong, using 你好嗎？ with a close friend can actually sound suspicious or overly dramatic. It may imply that you suspect something is seriously wrong in their life rather than being a simple 'hello'.
Examples in context
- 最近你好嗎？zeoi3 gan6 nei5 hou2 maa1?How have you been lately?
Example conversation
Two friends meet at a coffee shop.
- 雅婷 Nga Ting家明，你好嗎？ga1 ming4, nei5 hou2 maa3?Ka-ming, how are you?
- 家明 Ka Ming我好好，多謝你。ngo5 hou2 hou2, do1 ze6 nei5.I am very well, thank you.
- 雅婷 Nga Ting你今日好似好開心。nei5 gam1 jat6 hou2 ci5 hou2 hoi1 sam1.You seem very happy today.
- 家明 Ka Ming係啊，因為我啱啱收到好消息。hai6 aa3, jan1 wai6 ngo5 ngaam1 ngaam1 sau1 dou2 hou2 siu1 sik1.Yes, because I just received some good news.
