Hello in Chinese: Nǐ Hǎo and 9 Better Ways to Say Hi

沉浸 TeamAugust 6, 20264 min read

Hello in Chinese is 你好 (nǐ hǎo). It's written with two third tones, but spoken as ní hǎo, because two third tones in a row change the first one to a rising tone. That one phrase will get you through almost any first meeting.

你好 is the safe, standard greeting, but it's not the only one, and it's not always what native speakers say to each other. This guide covers the polite version, the casual versions, the phone-only version, and what people say instead. It's part of our essential Chinese phrases guide if you want the full beginner phrase list.

The standard hello: 你好 (nǐ hǎo)

你好 combines 你 (nǐ, you) and 好 (hǎo, good). So it's literally "you good," used the way English uses "hello."

One pronunciation note: when two third tones meet, the first becomes a second (rising) tone. So even though the pinyin is written nǐ hǎo, you say ní hǎo. This rule is called tone sandhi, and 你好 is the first place every learner meets it.

你好 works with strangers, shop staff, and people you've just met. Between friends it can sound a little stiff, like greeting your best friend with "hello there." Friends tend to use the casual options below, or skip a greeting word entirely.

How to say hi in Mandarin (casual hellos)

For a relaxed "hi," young people often borrow from English:

嗨 (hāi): hi. A direct loan from English, common among younger speakers and in texts.
哈喽 (hālóu): hello. Another loanword, friendly and informal. You'll hear it a lot in casual speech and online.

Both are fine with friends and classmates. Don't open a job interview with 嗨, though. For formal settings, use the next one.

The polite hello: 您好 (nín hǎo)

您好 (nín hǎo) is the respectful version of 你好. 您 (nín) is the polite "you," used for elders, teachers, customers, and anyone you want to show respect to.

If you're greeting your boss, a client, or a friend's grandparents, 您好 is the right choice. Service staff also say it to customers constantly, so you'll hear it every time you walk into a hotel or bank in China.

Greeting more than one person

你们好 (nǐmen hǎo): hello (to a group). 你们 (nǐmen) is the plural "you," so this greets several people at once.
大家好 (dàjiā hǎo): hello, everyone. 大家 means "everybody." This is the standard way to open a speech, a class, or a video. If you've watched any Chinese YouTuber, you've heard it.

喂 (wéi): the phone-only hello

喂 (wéi) means "hello," but only on the phone. It's the word people say when they pick up a call, roughly like "hello?" in English.

Don't use it face to face. Said to someone in person (usually with a falling tone, wèi), it comes across as "hey!" and can sound rude, like you're flagging someone down.

How native speakers greet without saying 你好

Here's the part textbooks skip: friends and neighbors often don't say 你好 at all. Common habits include:

吃了吗? (chī le ma?): "Have you eaten?" A traditional friendly greeting, especially among older speakers. It's not a dinner invitation, it's small talk, and "吃了" (I've eaten) is a complete answer.
Name or title + 好: greeting someone by who they are. Students say 王老师好 (Wáng lǎoshī hǎo, "hello, Teacher Wang"). It feels warmer and more personal than a plain 你好.
Commenting on what someone's doing: seeing a neighbor with groceries, you might say 买菜啦? ("buying groceries?"). Stating the obvious is a normal, friendly way to say hi in Chinese.

These situational greetings deserve their own article, so we wrote one: see our full guide to Chinese greetings for any time of day.

Frequently asked questions

Do Chinese people say ni hao to each other?

To strangers, yes. Between friends and family it's less common. Friends greet with 嗨, a name, a nickname, or a comment like "have you eaten?" instead. Using 你好 is never wrong, it just sounds a bit formal in close relationships.

What does ni hao mean literally?

Literally "you good": 你 (you) plus 好 (good). But nobody hears it that literally, the same way English speakers don't hear "goodbye" as "God be with you." It just means hello.

Is it pronounced nǐ hǎo or ní hǎo?

It's written nǐ hǎo (two third tones) and pronounced ní hǎo (rising tone, then third tone). Two third tones in a row always change the first to a rising tone. Dictionaries keep the written form, your mouth uses the spoken one.

How do you respond to ni hao?

Just say 你好 back. If someone says 您好, you can reply with 你好 or 您好, depending on how formal you want to be. Then keep the chat going with a question like 最近怎么样? (how have you been?).

Want to hear these greetings spoken aloud? Create a free Chenjin account to click any word, hear native audio, and save 你好, 您好, and the rest as flashcards you'll review right on the site.