“How are you” in Chinese: how to say it and how to write it
How are you?
"How are you?" in Chinese is 你好吗？, nǐ hǎo ma. Word for word it is "you good?": take the greeting 你好, "hello", add the particle 吗 at the end, and it becomes a question.
What the phrase is made of
- 你nǐyou
- 好hǎogood, well
- 吗maquestion particleturns a statement into a yes/no question
吗 turns any statement into a yes-or-no question, and the word order stays exactly the same. No "do", no "are you", no inversion: 你好 is "hello", 你好吗？ is "are you doing well?". One more thing about the sound: two third tones in a row, nǐ hǎo, are not said as written. The first one rises, so it comes out as ní hǎo.
How to answer "how are you" in Chinese
- 我很好。wǒhěnhǎoI'm fine, I'm good
- 我很好，你呢？wǒhěnhǎo,nǐneI'm fine, and you?
- 我也很好。wǒyěhěnhǎoI'm fine too
很 usually means "very", but not here. Chinese has no "am" before an adjective: you don't say "I am good", you say "I good". That bare "我好" sounds like a comparison, "I, on the other hand, am fine", so 很 fills the gap and keeps the sentence neutral. The particle 呢 is "and you?": it hands the same question back to the other person.
If things aren't great, you can say:
- 不错búcuònot bad, pretty good
- 还可以háikěyǐOK, I'm all right
- 马马虎虎mǎmahūhūso-so
马马虎虎 literally reads "horse horse tiger tiger", which is why learners love it. It means "so-so, careless", and the second 马 is said light, without its tone.
What Chinese people actually ask
你好吗 is a textbook phrase. Everyone understands it, but between friends it sounds a little stiff, like the textbook exchange "How are you? I'm fine, thank you, and you?". People more often ask about recent days, or skip the question and simply comment on what you are doing:
- 你最近怎么样？nǐzuìjìnzěnmeyànghow have you been lately?
- 最近好吗？zuìjìnhǎomahow are things these days?
- 吃了吗？chīlemahave you eaten? (an old greeting, not an invitation)
Frequently asked questions
How do you say “how are you” in Chinese?
“How are you” in Chinese is 你好吗, in pinyin nǐ hǎo ma.
How do you pronounce 你好吗?
你好吗 is read nǐ hǎo ma. The marks over the vowels are the tones: each syllable has its own melody, so listen to the recording on this page and repeat it.
How do you write “how are you” in Chinese characters?
你好吗 is 3 characters. What each one means and how the phrase is put together is explained on this page.
What does 你好吗 mean?
你好吗 (nǐ hǎo ma) means “how are you”.
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