Everyday Chinese: Lesson 1 Greetings

Everyday Chinese is the online Chinese course which designed for language learners who would like to acquire practical communication skills. Today we will learn how to greet.

Dialogues

1、你好。Nǐ hǎo.
Hello.
In Chinese there are several different ways to say hello. The most popular expression is 你好. “你” means 'you'. “好” means 'good'.
2、你叫什么名字？Nǐ jiào shénme míngzi?
What's your name?
What's your name?
If you're wondering about his/her name, you can ask this way: 你叫什么名字？
3、这是我的名片。Zhè shì wǒ de míngpiàn.
This is my business card.
This is my business card.
Nowadays in China, people often exchange business cards when they meet for the first time.
这means this. 是means be.
我的 is the Chinese for my or mine.
"这是我的" literally it means "this is mine".
名片, business card.
这是我的名片. This is my business card.
4、好久不见。Hǎojiǔ bújiàn.
Long time no see.
long time no see
Suppose you and your friends haven't seen each other for a long time. In Chinese we say 好久不见. 好久, very long time. 不, not. 见 is to see.