Learn the key pattern to use basic greetings
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| Let's take a closer look at each of these expressions. |
| In the first conversation, do you remember how Mark says, |
| "Ms. Li, good morning." |
| 李老师，早上好。 (Lǐ lǎoshī, zǎoshang hǎo.) |
| First, Mark addresses his teacher 李老师 (Lǐ lǎoshī). |
| This starts with the teacher's family name, Li. 李(Lǐ). 李. 李。 |
| After this is 老师 (lǎoshī), literally, "teacher," but here it's used as a suffix. 老师. 老师。 |
| Together, 李老师, literally, "Li teacher," but it translates as, "Ms. Li," in this context. 李老师。 |
| Note: when 老师 is used as a suffix the meaning will depend on the context. |
| The next part of the greeting is 早上好 (Zǎoshang hǎo), "Good Morning." 早上好。 |
| First is 早上 (zǎoshang), "morning," to be more specific, "early morning," which is roughly the time between sunrise to 10 o'clock. 早上. 早上。 |
| Next is 好 (hǎo), "good" 好 . 好. |
| Together 早上好 (Zǎoshang hǎo), "Good Morning." 早上好. |
| Altogether, 李老师，早上好。(Lǐ lǎoshī, zǎoshang hǎo.) "Ms. Li, good morning." |
| 李老师，早上好。 |
| Do you remember the teacher's response? |
| "Good morning." |
| 早上好。 (Zǎoshang hǎo.) |
| She simply repeats the same greeting: 早上好 (Zǎoshang hǎo) "Good morning." 早上好。 |
| Since teachers in Chinese culture have a higher social status, it's not necessary for them to address their students when greeting them. |
| In the second conversation, which takes place at noon, do you remember how Karen says, |
| "Hello, Ms. Li." |
| 你好，李老师。 (Nǐ hǎo, Lǐ lǎoshī.) |
| First is 你好, "hello." 你好. |
| There are two parts. |
| First is 你 "you." 你. 你. |
| Next is 好 "good." 好. 好. |
| Together, 你好, literally means "you good," but translates as "hello." 你好. |
| Pronunciation note: when there are two third tones in a row, the first one changes to the second tone. Listen to the pronunciation again. 你好 (Nǐ hǎo). 你好 (Nǐ hǎo). |
| This pronunciation change is not reflected in the pinyin, as you will still see two third tones. |
| Note: 你好 can be used during any time of the day, even at night. |
| In addition, 你好 can be used in formal settings. |
| Next is 李老师, "Ms. Li," in this context. 李老师. |
| Together, 你好，李老师。 (Nǐ hǎo, Lǐ lǎoshī.) "Hello, Ms. Li." |
| 你好，李老师。 |
| Now, do you remember how the teacher responds, "Hello, Karen."? |
| 你好，凯伦。 (Nǐ hǎo, Kǎilún.) |
| This starts with the phrase 你好 (nǐ hǎo). "Hello." 你好. 你好。 |
| Next is Karen's name in Chinese. 凯伦 (Kǎilún). 凯伦. 凯伦。 |
| All together, 你好，凯伦。 (Nǐ hǎo, Kǎilún.) "Hello, Karen." |
| 你好，凯伦。 |
| In the third conversation, which takes place in the evening at 6pm, do you remember how Ben says, |
| "Good evening, Ms. Li." |
| 晚上好，李老师。 (Wǎnshàng hǎo, Lǐ lǎoshī.) |
| First is 晚上好 (Wǎnshàng hǎo), "Good evening." 晚上好 (Wǎnshàng hǎo) |
| The first part is 晚上 (Wǎnshàng), "evening" or "night." 晚上. 晚上。 |
| Nexi is 好, "good." 好 (hǎo). |
| Together, 晚上好 (Wǎnshàng hǎo), "Good evening." 晚上好. |
| Then Ben addresses the teacher as 李老师 (Lǐ lǎoshī) "Ms. Li." 李老师. |
| All together, 晚上好，李老师。"Good evening, Ms. Li." |
| 晚上好，李老师。 |
| Note: in Chinese, a person's name or title can be placed either before or after the greetings. So it could be either 晚上好，李老师。 or 李老师，晚上好。 |
| Do you remember how the teacher responds, |
| "Good evening, Ben." |
| 晚上好，本。 (Wǎnshàng hǎo, Běn.) |
| First is 晚上好 (Wǎnshàng hǎo), "Good evening." 晚上好 (Wǎnshàng hǎo) |
| This is the same as Ben's greeting. |
| Next is Ben's name in Chinese. 本 (Běn). 本. 本. |
| 晚上好，本。 (Wǎnshàng hǎo, Běn.) |
| In Chinese greetings, 好 (hǎo), good, follows the time of the day, as in 早上好。 (Zǎoshang hǎo.), "Good morning." |
| 好 (hǎo) can also follow a title, as in 老师好。 (Lǎoshī hǎo.), "Teacher, hello." or follow a name and title, such as 李老师好。 (Lǐ lǎoshī hǎo.). "Ms. Li, hello." |
| A title followed by 好 (hǎo) or name and title followed by 好 (hǎo) is often used to greet someone with a higher social status than the speaker, such as a teacher, supervisor, or a senior family member. This pattern sounds more polite and personal than 你好 (nǐ hǎo). |
Comments
HideDid you know the basic greetings introduced in this lesson?
Hello Miguel Conejero Maciá,
Thank you for your comment, that's impressive! 😄
** 87 in Chinese is 八十七.
Hope to see you here often, let us know if you have any questions.
Ngai
Team ChineseClass101.com
我八十岁（87）我最喜欢 101 Chinese