Best ways to say Hello in Chinese

In this post I will cover the best ways to say “Hello” or greet people in Chinese. If you are a Chinese languge learner, try to use a different greeting every day so you get used to using them all.

Be sure to also check out my post on how to address people in Chinese.

1. Hello / 你好 / nǐ hǎo

你nǐ好hǎo (nǐ hǎo) is the easiest way to say hello in Chinese and can be used at any time of day. 你nǐ好hǎo (nǐ hǎo) is generally used for any face to face situation when you are greeting someone . Here is a break down of the words:

你	好
nǐ	hǎo
you	good

2. Hello (polite) / 您好 / nín hǎo

您nín好hǎo (nín hǎo): If you the person you are addressing is older or more senior to you then you then you can use nín 您nín instead of nǐ 你nǐ, this is more polite and especially appropriate in formal situations. You might use this when greeting your boss or hear it said to you by a venue such as a formal restaurant.

您	好
nín	hǎo
you (polite)	good

3. How are you today? / 你今天好吗? nǐ jīntiān hǎo ma?

你nǐ今jīn天tiān好hǎo吗ma (nǐ jīntiān hǎo ma) is very much the same as saying “how are you today?” in English, but is a little more casual and is best used with someone you know rather than a stranger. Here is the break down:

你	今天	好	吗
nǐ	jīntiān	hǎo	ma
you	today	good	(indicates a question)

This is not uncommon but is obviously longer and harder for a new Chinese learner.

4. Good morning / 早 / zǎo

早zǎo (zǎo) is the easiest way to say good morning but is very casual and can be used at any time of the morning. Literally 早zǎo (zǎo) means “morning”. There are several other more time specific ways to say good morning, these are below.

5. Good (early) morning / 早晨 / zǎochén

早zǎo晨chén (zǎochén) is best used early in the morning before the sun rises, specifically I’d recommend using this between midnight and dawn. It is not very common, but is appropriate for greeting someone before dawn. Here is the break down’

早	晨
zǎo	chén
early	dawn

6. Good morning / 早上好 / zǎoshang hǎo

早zǎo上shang好hǎo (zǎoshang hǎo) is commonly used to greet people in the morning and is best used between dawn to around 9am – although this isn’t a strict rule. Here is a break down:

早上	好
zǎoshang	hǎo
morning	good

7. Good morning / 早安 / zǎo ān

早zǎo安'ān (zǎo ān) is a another common way to say good morning and literally means “morning peace”. Similarly this is best used between dawn and around 9am. This is a bit shorter and thus a bit quicker to say earlier in the morning than 早zǎo上shang好hǎo (zǎoshang hǎo) but is not necessarily more or less appropriate. This is a word for word breakdown:

早	安
zǎo	ān
morning	peace

8. Good (late) morning / 上午好 / shàngwǔ hǎo

上shàng午wǔ好hǎo (shàngwǔ hǎo) is yet another way of saying good morning, but is most appropriately used from around 9am to noon. Here is a break down:

上午	好
shàngwǔ	wǔ
morning (before – noon)	good

Think of (shàngwǔ hǎo) referencing “before – noon” 上shàng午wǔ (shàngwǔ), and thus implies a greeting to be used before noon and not in the early morning.

9. Good afternoon / 下午好 / xiàwǔ hǎo

下xià午wǔ好hǎo (xiàwǔ hǎo) is the way to say good afternoon in Chinese. It is the opposite of 上shàng午wǔ好hǎo (shàngwǔ hǎo) as 午 (wǔ) means “noon”, 上 (shàng) means before and 下 (xià) means after, therefore:

• 上午 (shàngwǔ) means before – noon
• 下午 (xiàwǔ) means after – noon

Broken down for clarity:

下午	好
xiàwǔ	wǔ
afternoon (after – noon)	good

10. Good evening / 晚上好 / wǎnshàng hǎo

晚wǎn上shang好hǎo (wǎnshàng hǎo) means good evening and can be used to greet people any time after dusk, or around 6pm.

Here is a break down of the meaning:

晚上	好
wǎnshàng	wǔ
evening (evening – upon)	good

11. Hello (when answering a phone call) / 喂 / wèi

喂wèi (wèi) is a very common way of answering the phone in Chinese while 你nǐ好hǎo (nǐ hǎo) should not be used to answering the phone. 喂wèi (wèi) is only used on the phone and never for greeting someone in person.

12. Have you eaten? / 你吃饱了吗? / nǐ chī bǎo le ma?

你nǐ吃chī饱bǎo了le吗ma?? (nǐ chī bǎo le ma?) means “have you eaten?”, or more precisely “are you full”, but is a common greeting in Chinese. When asked 你nǐ吃chī饱bǎo了le吗ma?? (nǐ chī bǎo le ma?) , it is common to answer “yes, and you?” 吃chī饱bǎo了le，,你nǐ呢ne？? (chī bǎole, nǐ ne?)

Here is a break down of the greeting::

你	吃	饱	了	吗
nǐ	chī	bǎo	le	ma
you	eaten	(until) full	<past tense>	<question>

And a break down of the common response:

吃	饱	了	你	呢
chī	bǎo	le	nǐ	ne
eaten	(until) full	<past tense>	you	<how about>

A quick note here that saying 你nǐ呢ne ( nǐ ne) is the same as saying “how about you”, or more specifically 呢ne (ne) indicates that that the preceding statement is being asked to the person who asked the original question, that is you are asking them back, “have you eaten?”

Long time no see / 好久不见 / hǎojiǔ bùjiàn

好hǎo久jiǔ不bu见jiàn (hǎojiǔ bùjiàn) is the equivalent of the express “long time no see”. This is a phrase you would use in the same way as you’d use the English equivalent, that is when you haven’t seen someone for a number of months or years.

Here is a word for word break down of 好hǎo久jiǔ不bu见jiàn (hǎojiǔ bùjiàn):

好	久	不	见
hǎo	jiǔ	bù	jiàn
good / very	long time	not	see

As you can see 好hǎo久jiǔ不bu见jiàn (hǎojiǔ bùjiàn) literally does mean “very long time, not see” and is very close to “long time no see in English”

How to say good morning, good afternoon and good evening in Chinese

Here is a summary of how to say good morning, afternoon and good evening in Chinese and the times of day you can use them, note how the times overlap:

English	Chinese	Pinyin Pronunciation	Time of day
Good morning (early)	早zǎo晨chén	zǎochén	midnight – dawn
Good morning	早zǎo上shang好hǎo / 早zǎo安'ān	zǎoshang hǎo / zǎo ān	dawn – approximately 9am
Good morning	午wǔ好hǎo	shàngwǔ hǎo	approximately 8am – noon
Good afternoon	下xià午wǔ好hǎo	xiàwǔ hǎo	noon – dusk
Good evening	晚wǎn上shang好hǎo	wǎnshàng hǎo	dusk – midnight
Good night (goodbye)	晚wǎn安'ān	wǎn’ān	dusk – midnight

Be sure to check out my post on how to tell the time in Chinese which explains times of day in more detail.

Wrapping it up

If in doubt when it comes to greetings, you can’t go wrong by simply saying (nǐ hǎo).