How do you say hello in Chinese?

Pronunciation

Both syllables are written with the third tone (the dipping tone), but when two third tones sit together the first one is said with a rising tone — so 你好 is pronounced “ní hǎo”, not “nǐ hǎo”. This is called tone sandhi and it is automatic once you have heard it a few times.

How to use it

• •Use 你好 (nǐ hǎo) with someone you are meeting for the first time, or in any neutral, polite situation.
• •For a respectful greeting — an elder, a client, a teacher — use 您好 (nín hǎo). 您 (nín) is the polite form of “you”.
• •To greet a group, say 大家好 (dàjiā hǎo), “everyone good”.

Common mistakes

• ▸Saying “nǐ hǎo” with two flat dipping tones. Because of tone sandhi it should sound like “ní hǎo”.
• ▸Using 你好 on the phone. When you pick up the phone Chinese speakers say 喂 (wéi), not 你好.
• ▸Treating 你好 as something you say every day to people you know well. Between close friends it can sound oddly formal — see the cultural note.

Cultural context

Textbooks lead with 你好, but among people who already know each other it can feel stiff, a little like greeting a friend with “How do you do?”. In daily life Chinese people very often greet each other with a question instead — most famously 你吃了吗? (nǐ chī le ma?), “have you eaten?”, which is a warm greeting rather than a real question about food. A nod and 你吃了吗? to a neighbour is friendlier than a formal 你好.