Learn how to use basic greetings
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| Welcome to Can-Do Chinese by ChineseClass101.com. |
| In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use basic greetings in Chinese. |
| For example, "Hello" is |
| 你好。(Nǐ hǎo.) |
| Lin Li is the Xu family's Chinese teacher. |
| Her schedule for the day is: |
| Lisa Xu at 9:00 a.m. |
| Anna Xu at 12:00 p.m. |
| Jason Xu at 6:00 p.m. |
| Before you listen to the greeting exchange between the three pairs, let's preview some of its key components. |
| 早上好 (Zǎoshang hǎo.) |
| "good morning" |
| 早上好 |
| 早上好 |
| 你好 (Nǐ hǎo) |
| "hello" |
| 你好 |
| 你好 |
| 晚上好 (Wǎnshang hǎo) |
| "good evening" |
| 晚上好 |
| 晚上好 |
| Listen to their conversations, and pay attention to the time of day. |
| Lín Lǐ has a morning class with Lisa Xu at 9 a.m. |
| 李老师，早上好。 (Lǐ lǎoshī, zǎoshang hǎo.) |
| 早上好。 (Zǎoshang hǎo.) |
| Later, Lín Lǐ has an afternoon class with Anna Xu at 12 p.m. |
| 你好，李老师。 (Nǐ hǎo, Lǐ lǎoshī.) |
| 你好，安娜。 (Nǐ hǎo, Ānnà.) |
| At the end of the day, Lín Lǐ has an evening class with Jason Xu at 6 p.m. |
| 晚上好，李老师。 (Wǎnshang hǎo, Lǐ lǎoshī.) |
| 晚上好，杰森。 (Wǎnshang hǎo, Jiésēn.) |
| Once more with the English translation. |
| 李老师，早上好。 (Lǐ lǎoshī, zǎoshang hǎo.) |
| "Ms. Li, good morning." |
| 早上好。 (Zǎoshang hǎo.) |
| "Good morning." |
| 你好，李老师。 (Nǐ hǎo, Lǐ lǎoshī.) |
| "Hello, Ms. Li." |
| 安娜, 你好。 (Ānnà, nǐhǎo.) |
| "Hello, Anna." |
| 晚上好，李老师。 (Wǎnshang hǎo, Lǐ lǎoshī.) |
| "Good evening, Ms. Li." |
| 晚上好，杰森。 (Wǎnshang hǎo, Jiésēn.) |
| "Good evening, Jason." |
| Let's break down each of the expressions. |
| In the first conversation, do you remember how Lisa says, |
| "Ms. Li, good morning." |
| 李老师，早上好。 (Lǐ lǎoshī, zǎoshang hǎo.) |
| First, Lisa addresses her 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 (Lǐ lǎoshī), literally, "Li teacher," but it translates as, "Ms. Li," in this context. 李老师。 |
| Note: when 老师 (lǎoshī) 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." |
| 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 Anna 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 (nǐ), "you." 你 . 你. |
| Next is 好 (hǎo), "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 (nǐ hǎo) can be used during any time of the day, even at night. |
| In addition, 你好 (nǐ hǎo) can be used in formal settings. |
| Next is 李老师 (Lǐ lǎoshī), "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, Anna"? |
| 你好，安娜。 (Nǐ hǎo, Ānnà.) |
| This starts with the phrase 你好 (nǐ hǎo). "Hello." 你好 . 你好。 |
| Next is Anna's name in Chinese. 安娜 (Ānnà). 安娜 . 安娜。 |
| All together, 你好，安娜。 (Nǐ hǎo, Ānnà.) |
| "Hello, Anna." 你好，安娜。 |
| In the third conversation, which takes place in the evening at 6pm, do you remember how Jason says, |
| "Good evening, Ms. Li." |
| 晚上好，李老师。 (Wǎnshang hǎo, Lǐ lǎoshī.) |
| First is 晚上好 (Wǎnshang hǎo), "Good evening." 晚上好 (Wǎnshang hǎo) |
| The first part is 晚上 (Wǎnshang), "evening" or "night." 晚上 . 晚上。 |
| Nexi is 好 (hǎo), "good." 好. |
| Together, 晚上好 (Wǎnshang hǎo), "Good evening." 晚上好. |
| Then Jason addresses the teacher as 李老师 (Lǐ lǎoshī) "Ms. Li." 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 (Wǎnshang hǎo, Lǐ lǎoshī) or 李老师，晚上好 (Lǐ lǎoshī, Wǎnshang hǎo). |
| Do you remember how the teacher responds, |
| "Good evening, Jason." |
| 晚上好，杰森。 (Wǎnshang hǎo, Jiésēn.) |
| First is 晚上好 (Wǎnshang hǎo), "Good evening." 晚上好 (Wǎnshang hǎo) |
| This is the same as Jason's greeting. |
| Next is Jason's name in Chinese. 杰森 (Jiésēn). 杰森 . 杰森. |
| 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 (Lǐlǎoshī 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 (nǐhǎo). |
| Let’s look at the greetings once more. |
| Listen and repeat, or speak along with the native speaker. |
| 早上好。(Zǎoshang hǎo). |
| “Good morning.” |
| 早上好。(Zǎoshang hǎo). |
| 你好。(Nǐ hǎo). |
| “Hello.” |
| 你好。(Nǐ hǎo). |
| 晚上好。(Wǎnshang hǎo). |
| “Good evening.” |
| 晚上好。(Wǎnshang hǎo). |
| 你好，李老师。(Nǐ hǎo, Lǐ lǎoshī.). |
| “Hello, Ms. Li.” |
| 你好，李老师。(Nǐ hǎo, Lǐ lǎoshī.) |
| 早。(Zǎo). |
| “Morning.” |
| 早。(Zǎo). |
| Did you notice the last greeting where the native speaker used a shortened version of “Good morning?” |
| 早。(Zǎo.) "Morning." 早 . 早. |
| 早 is a shortened, and more casual, way to say 早上好。 "Good morning." |
| You should be aware of this shortened greeting, but you won’t need it for this lesson. |
| Let's review. |
| Respond to the prompts by speaking aloud. Then repeat after the native speaker, focusing on pronunciation. |
| Ready? |
| Do you remember how to say “good morning?” |
| 早上好 (zǎoshang hǎo) |
| 早上好 (zǎoshang hǎo) |
| And how Lisa says, |
| "Ms. Li, good morning." |
| 李老师，早上好。 (Lǐ lǎoshī, zǎoshang hǎo.) |
| 李老师，早上好。 (Lǐ lǎoshī, zǎoshang hǎo.) |
| Do you remember how to say “hello?” |
| 你好。(Nǐ hǎo). |
| 你好。(Nǐ hǎo). |
| And do you remember how Anna says, |
| "Hello, Ms. Li." |
| 你好，李老师. (Nǐ hǎo, Lǐ lǎoshī.) |
| 你好，李老师。(Nǐ hǎo, Lǐ lǎoshī.) |
| Do you remember how to say “good evening?” |
| 晚上好 (Wǎnshang hǎo)。 |
| 晚上好 (Wǎnshang hǎo)。 |
| And do you remember how Jason Xu says, |
| "Good evening, Ms. Li." |
| 晚上好，李老师。 (Wǎnshang hǎo, Lǐ lǎoshī.) |
| 晚上好，李老师。 (Wǎnshang hǎo, Lǐ lǎoshī.) |
| Let's practice. |
| Imagine you're Jason , and you’re in morning class. |
| Respond by saying, "Ms. Li, good morning." |
| Ready? |
| 杰森，早上好。 (Jiésēn, zǎoshang hǎo.) |
| 李老师，早上好。 (Lǐ lǎoshī, zǎoshang hǎo.) |
| Listen again and repeat. |
| 李老师，早上好。 (Lǐ lǎoshī, zǎoshang hǎo.) |
| 李老师，早上好。 (Lǐ lǎoshī, zǎoshang hǎo.) |
| Let’s try another. |
| Imagine you're Xianwen , and you’re in afternoon class. |
| Respond by saying, "Hello, Ms. Li." |
| Ready? |
| 你好。 (Nǐ hǎo.) |
| 你好，李老师。 (Nǐ hǎo, Lǐ lǎoshī.) |
| Listen again and repeat. |
| 你好，李老师。 |
| 你好，李老师。 |
| Let’s try one more. |
| Imagine you're Anna , and you meet your neighbor. |
| Respond by saying, "Good evening." |
| Ready? |
| 晚上好，安娜。 (Wǎnshang hǎo, Ānnà.) |
| 晚上好。 (Wǎnshang hǎo.) |
| Listen again and repeat. |
| 晚上好。 |
| 晚上好。 |
| Well done! This is the end of this lesson. |
| In this lesson, you learned how to use basic greetings in Chinese. This plays an essential role in the larger skill of using basic greetings. |
| Remember, these Can Do lessons are about learning practical language skills. |
| What's next? |
| Show us what you can do. |
| When you're ready, take your assessment. |
| You can take it again and again, so try anytime you like. |
| Our teachers will assess it, and give you your results. |
| Keep practicing — and move on to the next lesson! |
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