How to say “hi” in Chinese
hi
“Hi” in Chinese is 你好, nǐ hǎo: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke and examples.
How to pronounce it
你好 is read nǐ hǎo: 2 syllables. The tone is part of the word: with another melody you get another word, or just a jumble of sounds.
Two third tones in a row: the first one is said as a second tone, but it is still written as a third.
How to write it
On the left, 亻 is a compressed “person”. It appears in many words about people.
女 “woman” and 子 “child” side by side: “good”.
Strokes go in order: top to bottom and left to right, horizontal before vertical. Tap a character to open its page, with the strokes shown large and the words it appears in. To train your hand, print a handwriting sheet for “你好”.
Examples
Sentences from the course lessons with 你好. Tap the sound icon to listen.
- 你好吗？nǐhǎomaHow are you?
- 祝你好运！zhùnǐhǎoyùnGood luck!
- 明天考试祝你好运míngtiānkǎoshì,zhùnǐhǎoyùnThe exam is tomorrow — good luck!
- 最近你好像特别忙。zuìjìnnǐhǎoxiàngtèbiémángYou seem to have been really busy lately.
More words from the lesson “Hi and bye”
Look up another word in the Chinese–English dictionary: in English, in pinyin or in characters.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say “hi” in Chinese?
“Hi” in Chinese is 你好, pinyin nǐ hǎo.
What does 你好 mean?
你好 (nǐ hǎo) means “hi”.
How do you write 你好?
你好 is 2 characters: 你 (nǐ) — you; 好 (hǎo) — good, well. The stroke order of each one is shown step by step on this page.
How do you pronounce 你好?
你好 is read nǐ hǎo. Tones: nǐ — third tone, hǎo — third tone. The page has an audio recording.
“hi” in the lesson “Hi and bye”
This word is from the topic “Meeting people” of HSK 1. In the lesson you hear it in a dialogue, build a sentence with it and say it out loud. Start for free, no sign-up needed.
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