Say hello and goodbye in Chinese
Learn to greet and farewell people in Mandarin and Cantonese by time of day and formality, from casual 嗨 to polite 您好 and Cantonese 早晨.
By TheaFirst conversations · Yapr Learn
The direct answer: in Mandarin, the all-purpose hello is 你好 (nǐ hǎo), and the most common good morning is 早上好 (zǎoshang hǎo), often shortened to 早 (zǎo) among friends. In Cantonese, hello is 你好 (nei5 hou2), and good morning is 早晨 (zou2 san4). This lesson teaches only these two speech acts, greeting and farewell, so you can open and close an exchange naturally with friends, elders, and staff. You will learn which form fits which person, how Mandarin and Cantonese differ, and how to avoid the most common beginner slip: using one greeting in every situation.
By the end, you can…
- greet someone in Mandarin or Cantonese using the right form for the time of day and the person.
- say goodbye appropriately in casual and polite situations.
Listen once. Try it slowly. Then say it without looking.
Checking available voices…
你好
Hello
nǐ hǎo (Mandarin); nei5 hou2 (Cantonese)
The neutral, safe greeting in both languages. Use it with strangers, acquaintances, and in service settings.
您好
Hello (polite)
nín hǎo
Mandarin only. The respectful form, used for elders, customers, or anyone you address formally. It is not a different word, just the polite pronoun 您.
早上好
Good morning
zǎo shang hǎo
Mandarin, standard and slightly formal. In casual speech, many people simply say 早 (zǎo) to friends or colleagues.
嗨
Hi
hāi
Mandarin, casual and borrowed from English. Fine with friends and peers, less suitable for elders or formal settings.
再见
Goodbye
zài jiàn
The standard farewell in Mandarin. Literally 'again see', it works in almost any situation.
Pronunciation guides are approximate. Slow playback keeps the original pitch.
Make it make sense
Useful pattern
Two patterns cover most greetings. First, time-of-day + 好: 早上好 (good morning), 下午好 (good afternoon), 晚上好 (good evening). Second, pronoun + 好 as a standalone hello: 你好 (neutral) and 您好 (polite). Notice that 好 here means 'good' or 'well', not 'fine' as an answer to an apology. For farewells, 再见 is the default. In Cantonese, the same 你好 pattern exists as 你好 (nei5 hou2), but the morning greeting is 早晨 (zou2 san4), not a translation of 早上好.
When to use it
Choose by person and time. Greet a friend in the morning with 早 or 嗨; greet an elder or a teacher with 您好 or 早上好. When you leave a shop or end a call, 再见 is safe. If you are speaking Cantonese, use 你好 for hello and 早晨 in the morning; 再见 (zoi3 gin3) also works as goodbye. Do not use 喂 (wéi) as a general hello: in Mandarin it is mainly a telephone opener, and it can sound abrupt face to face. Asking staff a question? Start with 你好, then ask, for example 请问，洗手间在哪里？ (Excuse me, where is the restroom?).
Listen to each line, then take one part and reply out loud.
你好，早上好！
Hello, good morning!nǐ hǎo, zǎo shang hǎo早上好！您好吗？
Good morning! How are you?zǎo shang hǎo! nín hǎo ma?我很好，谢谢。再见！
I'm well, thank you. Goodbye!wǒ hěn hǎo, xiè xie. zài jiàn!再见，明天见！
Goodbye, see you tomorrow!zài jiàn, míng tiān jiàn!A little context goes a long way
Chinese greetings often reflect relative age and status rather than intimacy alone. 您 is a respectful 'you' and appears in 您好, so using it with an elder or a customer signals awareness of the relationship. Among close friends, 嗨 or a simple 早 is warmer than a stiff 您好. Cantonese 早晨 is a genuine everyday morning greeting, not a literal translation of Mandarin 早上好, so treat it as its own phrase.
One thing to watch for
Using 喂 (wéi) as a face-to-face hello because it appears in dictionaries as 'hello'.
Try this instead: In Mandarin, 喂 is mainly used when answering the phone, and it can sound blunt in person. For face-to-face greetings, say 你好 or 您好. Example: 你好，请问您找谁？ (Hello, who are you looking for?) is natural at a door, while 喂 there would sound like you are picking up a call.
Your turn
Try answering out loud before checking a possible answer.
1You meet your friend at 8 a.m. in Beijing. Give one natural Mandarin greeting.
Show a sample answer
早！ or 早上好！
早 is the casual short form and 早上好 is the fuller morning greeting. Both fit a friend in the morning; 您好 would be more formal than the situation requires.
2You are speaking Cantonese and greet a neighbour in the morning. What do you say?
Show a sample answer
早晨！
早晨 is the standard Cantonese good-morning greeting. 你好 (nei5 hou2) is also correct as a general hello, but it does not specify morning.
3You are leaving a polite conversation with an elder. Give a suitable Mandarin farewell.
Show a sample answer
再见。
再见 is the standard goodbye in any register and is safe when leaving a polite conversation with an elder.
Use 你好 for a neutral hello, 您好 for respect, 早上好 or 早 in the morning, and 再见 to say goodbye. In Cantonese, 你好 is hello and 早晨 is good morning. Match the form to the person, not just the clock.
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