<Try> Chinese Class: Greeting

<Try> Chinese Class: Greeting
Mar 22, 2007 04:21
MAY001 Points: Join Date: Sep 28, 2005 Status: offline	Ok, tell me you like it or not. If you don't like, I will stop... There are various ways to greet another one in Chinese. The most common one is 你好(Ni 3 Hao 3). Literally, Ni means 'You' and Hao means 'Good'. Ni sounds like Knee and Hao sounds like How in English but the tone is different. Ni Hao can be used to greet the person you know or strangers. Just like Hello and Hi, you will receive another 你好 when you greet others by Ni Hao. e.g.: Sam：你好。 May：你好。

Mar 22, 2007 04:21

MAY001
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Join Date: Sep 28, 2005
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Ok, tell me you like it or not. If you don't like, I will stop...

There are various ways to greet another one in Chinese. The most common one is 你好(Ni 3 Hao 3). Literally, Ni means 'You' and Hao means 'Good'. Ni sounds like Knee and Hao sounds like How in English but the tone is different. Ni Hao can be used to greet the person you know or strangers. Just like Hello and Hi, you will receive another 你好 when you greet others by Ni Hao.
e.g.:
Sam：你好。
May：你好。

Mar 22, 2007 04:23	#1
MAY001 Points: Join Date: Sep 28, 2005 Status: Offline	We also use 你好吗? (Ni 3 Hao 3 Ma 1) to greet others. 吗 is like a question mark in Chinese. A sentence with 吗 is generally a question. Ni Hao Ma is much smiliar to 'how are you' in English. When you greet others by Ni Hao Ma, the others will answer 我很好。(Wo 3 Hen 2 Hao 3) which means I'm fine. e.g.: Sam：你好吗？ May：我很好，谢谢。(Xie 4 Xie 4, means thanks)

Mar 22, 2007 04:24	#2
MAY001 Points: Join Date: Sep 28, 2005 Status: Offline	When we greet a senior or respectable one, we have to use 您好 (Nin 2 Hao 3). Nin is the most polite way to address 'You'. We also can say 您好吗？(Nin 2 Hao 3 Ma 1) to greet a senior or the respectable one.

Mar 22, 2007 04:33

MAY001
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Join Date: Sep 28, 2005
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In northern China, many prefer another expression when greeting each other. 吃了吗？（Chi 1 Le Ma 1）or 你吃了吗？（Ni 3 Chi 1 Le Ma 1）means 'Have you eaten?' 吃 means 'eat',了 is an auxiliary word,used after the verb or adj. to indicate completion. Usually, we don't accentuate 了. You don't need to answer 'yes' or 'no' seriously. That's just a kind of greeting. Mostly I will answer 吃了 (Chi 1 Le).
e.g.:
Sam: 你吃了吗？
May：吃了，你呢？（Ni 3 Ne 1,means How about you）

Mar 22, 2007 06:50	#4
LIONPOWER Points: Join Date: Dec 11, 2006 Status: Offline	Go ahead

Mar 22, 2007 20:52	#5
MAY001 Points: Join Date: Sep 28, 2005 Status: Offline	O, no, it seemed that less people are interested in it...:(

Mar 22, 2007 22:16	#6
LIONPOWER Points: Join Date: Dec 11, 2006 Status: Offline	I guess, people did not read till now

Mar 23, 2007 01:11	#7
LISATALK Points: Join Date: Mar 22, 2007 Status: Offline	support to you! very good, please go ahead. may be i can join you together to teach Chinese here.

Mar 23, 2007 03:59	#8
MAY001 Points: Join Date: Sep 28, 2005 Status: Offline	OK, thanks, I'll go on. Just like Britain people discuss the weather when meeting someone, northern Chinese prefer 吃了吗 when encounter a friend. But it seldom used when someone you don't know.

Mar 23, 2007 04:00	#9
MAY001 Points: Join Date: Sep 28, 2005 Status: Offline	When meeting someone in the morning, we say 早上好（Zao 3 Shang 4 Hao 3）which means Good Morning. 早上 means morning, usually refers to the time between 8 to 12 o'clock. There's another phrase 中午（Zhong 1 Wu 3）means Noon. When you meet someone at the time between 12 to 14, you can say 中午好.

Mar 23, 2007 04:04	#10
MAY001 Points: Join Date: Sep 28, 2005 Status: Offline	下午(Xia 4 Wu 3) meaning Afternoon is a more wide period. Ususally people say 下午好 between 14 to 18. There's another phrase to describe Dusk, 傍晚(Bang 4 Wan 3). But we seldom say 傍晚好. When the night falls, we say 晚上好 (Wan 3 Shang 4 Hao 3) which means Good Evening.

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