Ne Hao (Ma)? - Page 2

Ne Hao (Ma)?
Jun 6, 2009 11:22	#11
GUEST39165	Hi, Danny, about your question, if you want to say What's up in Mandarin, the proper translation is Zen(3rd tone) me(no tone) yang(4th tone) Zenmeyang 怎么样. or what's going on lately is zuijin zenmeyang 最近怎么样. this is to use with family and friends same rule as What's up in english. Ni Hao is the regular greeting in common Chinese 普通话, it is the translation of Hello, in Mandarin, you put the ma at the end to show it is a question. As foreigner learning Mandarin, we learned Ni hao ma? but frankly, no body in China say that, only the Laowai老外!! Everybody say ni hao as hi or hello. You can use ni hao ma to know if the other person is OK, for exemple if you bump by accident into another person and they almost fell, you can say i am sorry, are you OK = duibuqi, ni hao ma? 对不起，你好吗? someone mentioned in a previous post: It means "You have eaten?", this is wrong! the translation for that is Ni Chi le ma?你吃了吗? Chibaole is the answer meaning they eat a lot and they were full. I hope this can help Liu Rui Ke (I am not Chinese, I am french Canadian learning English and Mandarin.)

Ne Hao (Ma)?

Jun 6, 2009 11:22

#11

GUEST39165

Hi,

Danny, about your question, if you want to say What's up in Mandarin, the proper translation is Zen(3rd tone) me(no tone) yang(4th tone) Zenmeyang 怎么样. or what's going on lately is zuijin zenmeyang 最近怎么样. this is to use with family and friends same rule as What's up in english.
Ni Hao is the regular greeting in common Chinese 普通话, it is the translation of Hello, in Mandarin, you put the ma at the end to show it is a question. As foreigner learning Mandarin, we learned Ni hao ma? but frankly, no body in China say that, only the Laowai老外!! Everybody say ni hao as hi or hello.
You can use ni hao ma to know if the other person is OK, for exemple if you bump by accident into another person and they almost fell, you can say i am sorry, are you OK = duibuqi, ni hao ma? 对不起，你好吗?

someone mentioned in a previous post: It means "You have eaten?", this is wrong!
the translation for that is Ni Chi le ma?你吃了吗? Chibaole is the answer meaning they eat a lot and they were full.

I hope this can help

Liu Rui Ke
(I am not Chinese, I am french Canadian learning English and Mandarin.)

Mar 25, 2010 01:46	#12
GUEST77164	Hara Kiri is japanese...its really called seppuku.

Jan 1, 2011 23:14	#13
GUEST13236	hara kiri is japanese.... and mah at the end of a mandarin sentence with inflection means it's a question... dong mah (which means do you understand)

Feb 4, 2011 19:34	#14
GUEST66226	Xie Xie (shue shue) is the easy way.

Feb 15, 2011 08:44

#15

TEACHER_ZHANG
Points:
Join Date: Jan 12, 2011
Status: Offline

I think CHAICHAI get to the point for "Nihao or Nehao".

In chinese, stangers don't ask you" Ni hao ma?". When relatives,Friends, colleagues, acquaintance ask you"Ni hao ma?", you can simplely answer with:"wo hen hao" or "Hai xing". "Hai ke yi". Negative answer is "bu hao", "bu tai hao",if you want to talk more with the person, you can answer with more details.

If you want to ask a person who you are familiar with"How are yo doing?", You can say:"Zui jin mang shen me ne?" "zui jin gan shen me ne?" The person may answer with some details. If he/she answer shortly with"mei mang shen me","hai shi lao yang zi", it means he/she don't want to talk more about it.

Feb 24, 2011 21:33	#16
HERBEAT Points: Join Date: Mar 17, 2009 Status: Offline	I thought in Cantonese it pronounced like Lay hou or something like that?... and mo ho... hmm... that's nice... lol~~

Mar 8, 2011 12:46	#17
GUEST84228	My friend speaks manderin and he told me ni how was hello and ni how ma was how r u

Mar 8, 2011 21:32	#18
LINGYUXISU Points: Join Date: Dec 3, 2010 Status: Offline	Quote: Originally Posted by GUEST84228 My friend speaks manderin and he told me ni how was hello and ni how ma was how r u Your friend is right. Amazing Chinese:)

Mar 31, 2011 11:07

#19

GUEST15762

Hello Danny

Funny funny True story, i am a wasp girl from the Midwest. However I speak fluent Cantonese, even though my American born chinese hub does not. My father in law calls me "the only true Chinese" of his children. Blonde and green eyes, I'm supposed to be corn fed not yu Choy or hot pot.
I learned from neighbor, the start anyway, learned the rest on tape. Try barrette stone, it goes a long way. Good luck, tung girl

Jun 7, 2011 01:58	#20
GUEST15822	well what does 'hao ma' by itself mean?

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