Lesson 1
Ni hao! Are you ready to start speaking Chinese? In this lesson, I will introduce you to some of the most basic greetings and common expressions in Chinese. You’ll learn how to say “hello,” “goodbye,” “thank you,” and more! Whether you’re planning a trip to China or just want to impress your Chinese-speaking friends, this lesson will help you get started on your language-learning journey.
Listen to the audio and practice saying the phrases yourself.
Hello / goodbye
| 你好 | nǐ hǎo | Hello |
| 您好 | nín hǎo | Hello (respectful) |
| 再见 | zài jiàn | Goodbye |
你好 vs 您好
Both 你好 and 您好 are common greetings in Chinese that mean “hello”. 你好is used for more friendly, casual situations and with people you are not familiar with that are around your own age. 您好 is a more formal and polite way of saying “hello” used with who are older and higher in status. It is often used in more formal or professional settings, such as in business or with customers.
Why does the audio and pinyin not match?
Even though the pinyin for 你好 is written as “nǐ hǎo”, 你好 is actually pronounced “ní hǎo.” This is due to a tone change that occurs when there are two consecutive third tones. Pinyin is written to reflect the tones of the characters individually, so it doesn’t account for tone changes. For more information about tone changes see “Inspecting Third Tones“.
How are you?
| 你好吗？ | nǐ hǎo ma ？ | How are you |
| 我很好 | wǒ hěn hǎo | Very well |
| 不太好 | bú tài hǎo | Not so well |
| 你呢？ | nǐ ne ？ | And you? |
Greetings
| 早上好 | zǎo shàng hǎo | Good morning |
| 下午好 | xià wǔ hǎo | Good afternoon |
| 晚安 | wǎn ān | Good night |
Replies
| 谢谢 | xiè xie | Thank you |
| 不用谢 | bú yòng xiè | You’re welcome |
| 不好意思 | bù hǎo yì si | Sorry (excuse me) |
| 对不起 | duì bu qǐ | I’m sorry |
| 没关系 | méi guān xì | That’s ok |
不好意思 vs 对不起
The phrase “对不起” is a very serious apology that expresses sincere remorse and a request for forgiveness. It should be used in situations where the mistake or offense is significant, such as losing your friend’s book.
On the other hand, “不好意思” is a more casual apology that is used when the mistake or offense is not as severe or damaging. It literally means “to be embarrassed”. Additionally, “不好意思” can be used as a polite way to interrupt someone or ask for their attention, similar to the English phrase “Excuse me”.
Yes / no
| 是的 | shì de | Yes |
| 不 | bù | No |
| 对 | duì | Correct (yes) |
| 好的 | hǎo de | Okay |
Introductions
| 你叫什么名字？ | nǐ jiào shénme míngzi？ | What is your name? |
| 我叫…… | wǒ jiào…… | My name is… |
| 我是…… | wǒ shì…… | I am … |
| 很高兴见到你 | hěn gāoxīng jiàndào nǐ | Nice to meet you |
| 我先走 | wǒ xiān zǒu | I have to go now |
If you would like to see a compiled lists of the vocabulary you learnt in this lesson, check out: “Basic Greetings” and “Common Expressions“.
Language in action
Practice using these new expressions in different scenarios.
Next lesson ->