Beginner Chinese essential
Basic Chinese Greetings for Beginners
Learn the first Chinese greetings beginners actually use: hello, good morning, thank you, excuse me, and goodbye with audio and pinyin.
A greeting is the opening of an interaction, not a sentence that must be repeated every time someone speaks. 你好 works when approaching a stranger, while a morning greeting suits someone you meet on the way out. After that first line, the conversation needs the actual question, acknowledgment, or goodbye.
Start with these phrases
English excuse me can request attention, introduce a question, or apologize. Mandarin often uses different expressions for those jobs. Learning that distinction will help you more than collecting a longer list of interchangeable greetings.
Conversations
A greeting becomes a practical question
The learner moves from hello to the actual need after the receptionist invites a question.
nín hǎo.
Hello.
nín hǎo, yǒu shén me xū yào bāng máng de ma?
Hello. How can I help?
qǐng wèn, diàn tī zài zhè biān ma?
Is the elevator this way?
duì, zài qián mian.
Yes, up ahead.
Making room for someone to pass
不好意思 and 没关系 fit the small interruption; 谢谢 comes after the other person helps.
bù hǎo yì si, kě yǐ jiè guò yí xià ma?
Excuse me, could I get past?
méi guān xi, qǐng.
Of course, go ahead.
xiè xie.
Thank you.
bú kè qi.
You're welcome.
Openings, thanks, and apologies
- 早上好！
A morning greeting. After the other person returns it, continue with your question or conversation.
- 请问，电梯在哪里？
请问 introduces the request for information. For an apology after an accident, use 对不起.
- 谢谢！
Use after help, an answer, or a favor. If someone thanks you, the response is a different expression.
- 不客气，再见！
This acknowledges thanks and closes the conversation. Use 请问 when you want to introduce a question.
Greeting someone and continuing naturally
Three openings for three purposes
请问 introduces a question: 请问，电梯在哪里. 不好意思 can soften an interruption or minor inconvenience. 对不起 is an apology. Choose the opening that fits the situation: a question, interruption, or apology. If you are simply starting a service conversation, 你好 followed by your request is entirely usable. Choose the expression for what you are doing, not the first dictionary entry for excuse me.
You and respectful you
你 is the ordinary you; 您 is a respectful form. 您好 adds respect in a formal service exchange or when addressing an older person. Follow the greeting with the question or request that brought you there. In a first conversation with peers, a short 你好 and an introduction can be easier to respond to. If the other person chooses a more casual greeting, you can return it without correcting their level of formality.
Thanking and answering thanks
谢谢 acknowledges help or a favor. 不客气 is a response to thanks. 没关系 can reassure someone after a minor inconvenience. In English these responses can sound similar in context, but their conversational jobs differ. Listen to what the person just did: thanked you, apologized, or asked a question. Answer that action before introducing another topic.
Written tones and connected speech
你好 is conventionally written nǐ hǎo. In connected speech, the first of two third-tone syllables sounds rising. 不 before a fourth-tone syllable can also be pronounced with a rising tone, as in 不客气. Use the phrase audio to practice the whole expression. A spelling display and a pronunciation in running speech serve related but not always identical purposes; do not force every syllable to sound isolated.
Morning, evening, and leaving for the night
早上好 acknowledges meeting someone in the morning. 晚上好 does the same in the evening. Use 晚上好 when meeting in the evening and 晚安 when saying good night. The latter often closes an evening exchange or accompanies going to bed. 再见 is a straightforward way to say goodbye. If you expect to meet tomorrow, 明天见 makes that expectation explicit. Choose a closing that fits what you actually mean; repeating an evening greeting while walking away may sound like opening another interaction. Keep the distinction between arriving, continuing, and leaving in mind before choosing the phrase.
Short greetings you may hear back
早 is a short morning greeting. 早啊 adds the friendly particle 啊 and can be returned with 早. 最近怎么样 asks how things have been recently and usually invites a small update. 挺好的 means pretty good; 还可以 means okay or fairly good. When someone says 好久不见, long time no see, they are acknowledging a gap since your last meeting. You can return 好久不见 and ask how they have been. These expressions fit people who already know each other. With a stranger at a counter, 你好 followed by the practical request keeps the opening clear and gives the other person something useful to answer.
What you might hear back
不客气。
bú kè qi.
You're welcome.
This responds to your thanks. You can acknowledge it and continue or leave.
没关系。
méi guān xi.
It's okay.
After a minor apology, it reassures you. It acknowledges the apology so the exchange can move on.
您有什么事？
nín yǒu shén me shì?
How can I help you?
The greeting has opened the interaction; now state the reason you approached.
Pick a response that fits
Someone thanks you. Does 请问 answer their thanks?
No. 请问 introduces a question. 不客气 is an appropriate response to thanks.
Must every hello use 您好?
No. 您 adds respect and can fit formal contexts, but 你好 is useful in ordinary first interactions.
Why can the audio of 你好 sound different from two isolated third tones?
Connected speech changes the first of the two third tones. Practice the complete expression, not only isolated syllables.
More everyday social language
Questions learners ask
What is the first Chinese greeting to learn?
Start with 你好, then add 谢谢 and 再见.
How do I say thank you in Chinese?
Say 谢谢.
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