How to Ask About Well-Being

Learn how to ask about well-being

Dialogue

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Vocabulary (Review)

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Lesson Notes

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Lesson Transcript

Welcome to Can-Do Chinese by ChineseClass101.com.

In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask about well-being in Chinese.

For example, "How are you?" is

你好吗？ (Nǐ hǎo ma?)

Anna Xu is in the office breakroom.

She greets Wei Wang , a colleague, and asks about his well-being.

Before you listen to the conversation, let's preview some of its key components.

好 (hǎo)

"good"

好

Listen to the conversation and focus on the question.

Ready?

你好吗？(Nǐ hǎo ma?)

我很好。(Wǒ hěnhǎo.)

Once more with the English translation.

你好吗？(Nǐ hǎo ma?)

"How are you?"

我很好。(Wǒ hěnhǎo.)

"I'm good."

Let's break down the conversation.

Do you remember how Anna 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？(Nǐ hǎo ma?)

Let's take a closer look at the response.

Do you remember how Wei says,

"I'm good."

我很好。(Wǒ hěnhǎo.)

First is 我 (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 middle one changes to the second tone. Listen to the pronunciation again. 我很好。 (Wǒ hěnhǎo.) 我很好。(Wǒ hěnhǎo.)

All together, 我很好。(Wǒ hěnhǎo.), literally, “I very good,” but translates as, "I [am] good."

我很好。(Wǒ hěnhǎo.)

Note, there is no linking verb in this sentence. Instead, 很 (hěn) is placed between the noun, 我 (wǒ), and adjective, 好 (hǎo). This is a common pattern when describing a noun with an adjective.

When describing something in Chinese, you can think of the adverb as “linking” the subject and 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 (nín) is often used to show respect.

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 háihǎo ma?) "Are you alright?" 你还好吗？

Let's look at some more examples.

Listen and repeat or speak along with the native speakers.

你好吗？(Nǐ hǎo ma?)

我很好。(Wǒ hěnhǎo.)

你好吗？(Nǐ hǎo ma?)

“How are you?”

我很好。(Wǒ hěnhǎo.)

“I’m good.”

你好吗？(Nǐ hǎo ma?)

我一般般。(Wǒ yìbānbān.)

你好吗？(Nǐ hǎo ma?)

“How are you?”

我一般般。(Wǒ yìbānbān.)

“I’m so-so.”

您好吗？(Nín hǎo ma?)

我很好。(Wǒ hěnhǎo.)

您好吗？(Nínhǎo ma?)

“How are you?”

我很好。(Wǒ hěnhǎo.)

“I’m good.”

你好吗？(Nǐ hǎo ma?)

很好。你呢？(Hěnhǎo. Nǐ ne?)

你好吗？(Nǐ hǎo ma?)

“How are you?”

很好。你呢？(Hěnhǎo. Nǐ ne?)

Very good. What about you?”

Did you notice the native speaker shortened the response and added the phrase, "你呢?" (Nǐ ne?)

很好。你呢？(Hěnhǎo. Nǐ ne?)

"[I'm] good. And you?"

很好。(Hěnhǎo.) is the shortened form of 我很好。(Wǒ hěnhǎo.) 我 (Wǒ) is omitted, as it’s understood from context.

After this is 你呢? (Nǐ ne?) "And you?" 你呢？

First is, 你 (Nǐ), "you." 你 (Nǐ).

Next is 呢 (ne), which means something like "how about...?" in this context. 呢 . 呢。

Together, 你呢? (Nǐ ne?) Literally, "You how about?" but translates as, “And you?” 你呢？

Let's review the key words and phrases.

您 (nín) "you," formal. 您 . 您。

一般般 (yìbānbān) "so-so." 一般般 . 一般般。

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 "you?"

你 (nǐ)

And how to say "good?"

好 (hǎo)

Do you remember how Anna asks,

"How are you?"

你好吗？(Nǐ hǎo ma?)

Do you remember how to say "I?"

我 (wǒ)

And how Wei Wang says, "I'm good."

我很好。(Wǒ hěnhǎo.)

Do you remember how to say, "And you?"

你呢? (Nǐ ne?)

And the formal way to say "you?"

您 (nǐn)

Do you remember the formal way to ask,

"How are you?"

您好吗？ (Nín hǎo ma?)

And how to say "so-so?"

一般般 (yìbānbān)

Let's practice.

Imagine you're Wei Wang , Anna ’s colleague. Ask how Anna is doing.

Ready?

你好吗？(Nǐ hǎo ma？)

我一般般。 (Wǒ yì bān bān.)

Listen again and repeat.

你好吗？(Nǐ hǎo ma？)

Let’s try another.

Imagine you're Anna Xu , and you meet your boss at work. Ask about your boss ’s well being using formal Chinese.

Ready?

您好吗？(Nín hǎo ma？)

我很好。(Wǒ hěnhǎo.)

Listen again and repeat.

您好吗？(Nín hǎo ma？)

Let’s try one more.

Imagine you're Sasha , and you meet your friend at school . Respond by saying "I'm good. And you?"

Ready?

你好吗？ (Nǐ hǎo ma？)

很好。你呢？ (Hěn hǎo. Nǐ ne?)

Listen again and repeat.

很好。你呢？ (Hěn hǎo. Nǐ ne?)

The phrases you learned in this lesson are an important part of your language learning journey. However, as mentioned above, these phrases are often used with someone you haven’t met in a while to show your concern about their well-being.

When seeing a friend you meet often, you might just use a simple greeting.

Then you would follow that with a question related to small talk, such as “Did you eat?" 吃了吗？(Chī le ma?)

Well done! This is the end of the lesson and the Can Ask About Well-Being unit of this course.

Remember, these Can Do lessons are about learning practical language skills.

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