Sing along: Mandarin greetings

It’s important to know how to greet people and respond in Mandarin.

The Mandarin greetings song

You can practise greetings in Mandarin with this fun song:

It is important to remember that singing in Mandarin changes the tones.

'Hello' in Mandarin

A common way to say ‘hello’ in Mandarin is 你好nĭ hăo.

In China, people often greet each other with:

你吃了吗？Nǐ chī le ma? - Have you eaten yet?

Your greeting might also change depending on the time of day:

'How are you?' in Mandarin

To ask a person how they are feeling in Mandarin, you can use:

你好吗？Nĭ hăo ma? - How are you? or You good?

Here are some answers in Mandarin that you could try:

To be polite, you can thank them for asking with 谢谢xiè xie (thank you).

You can then return the question with 你呢？Nǐ ne? (And you?)

'Goodbye' in Mandarin

You can finish any conversation in Mandarin with a simple 再见zài jiàn (goodbye).