Learn the key pattern to ask about well-being
Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
| Let's take a closer look at the conversation. |
| First, do you remember how Mark asks Wei, |
| "How are you?" |
| 你好吗？(Nǐ hǎo ma?) |
| First is 你 (nǐ), "you." 你. 你. |
| Next is 好 (hǎo),"good." 好. 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). |
| Last is 吗 (ma), the question-marking particle. It turns a sentence into a question. 吗. 吗. |
| All together, 你好吗? (Nǐ hǎo ma?) literally "You good?," but it translates as "How are you?" |
| 你好吗? |
| Let's take a closer look at the response. |
| Do you remember how Wei says, |
| "I'm good." |
| 我很好。(Wǒ hěn hǎo.) |
| First is (wǒ), "I." 我. 我. |
| Next is 很 (hěn), "very."很. 很. |
| Last is 好 (hǎo),"good." 好. 好. |
| Pronunciation note, here there are three third tones in a row, the first two change to the second tone. Listen to the pronunciation again. 我很好 (Wǒ hěn hǎo). 我很好(Wǒ hěn hǎo). |
| All together, 我很好。(Wǒ hěn hǎo.), literally, "I very good," but translates as, "I [am] good." |
| 我很好。(Wǒ hěn hǎo.) |
| Note, there is no linking verb in this sentence. Instead, 很 is placed between the noun, 我, and adjective, 好. This is a common pattern when describing a noun with an adjective. |
| Noun 很 Adjective. |
| When talking to someone of higher social status, such as a superior at the office, seniors, etc., you can say, |
| 您好吗？(Nín hǎo ma?) How are you? 您好吗？(Nín hǎo ma?) |
| This starts with 您 (nín), "you" when using formal Chinese. 您 . 您. |
| 您 is often used to show respect to people 您. |
| Remember this phrase 您好吗？(Nín hǎo ma?) "How are you?" you'll need it again later. |
| Note, Chinese native speakers are more likely to ask about each other's well-being when they haven't seen each other for a while. |
| When you want to show your concern because the other person does not look so well, a good phrase to use is 你还好吗？(Nǐ hái hǎo ma?) |
| "Are you alright?" |
| 你还好吗？(Nǐ hái hǎo ma?) |
Comments
Hide