Chinese greetings and farewells: 你, 您, and the hour

A Chinese greeting is the line that picks 你, 您, or 嗨 by distance, not a wildcard glued to every door.

Teaching note. Pick 你 or 您 before you open your mouth. If they sound the same, the register falls even when the character is right.

Three axes: pronoun, time of day, and whether the other person stays or sets off. 再见 is not 一路顺风. 慢走 is said by the person who stays. 嗨 fits a young group and sounds like chat at a 前台.

This page is not the month-one pack of 20. There is no 多少钱, no 我不懂 as inventory, no 我要这个. If you still cannot introduce yourself, go back to basic phrases.

The classic paper of about 150 words is summarized on Wikipedia HSK. Dates: chinesetest.cn. Framework: CLEC. The exam does not score lobby 嗨; the street does.

你好 works with classmates, waiters your age, and class. 您好 marks age, a formal desk, or a first meeting. Using 你 with a client the first time is not warm; it is blunt. English also has distance. 您 exists for the same reason.

你好 (nǐ hǎo, hello)

您好 (nín hǎo, hello — polite you)

In connected speech, 你好 takes sandhi: the first third tone is realized as a second. The dictionary cites nǐ hǎo. The phrase connects. Two full valleys in a row sound like syllable reading. Detail: tones.

嗨 is a loan. It fits a young group. At a hotel 前台 it sounds like chat. 老师 is sometimes the greeting: you call the person by the role, not 嗨老师.

嗨 (hāi, hi / hey)

老师好 (lǎoshī hǎo, hello, teacher)

王老师 (Wáng lǎoshī, Teacher Wang)

吃了吗 exists as an informal greeting in some contexts. Do not use it with a stranger at an airport, and do not study it as a day-one substitute for 你好. It is not month one and not a fair.

吃了吗？ (chī le ma, have you eaten?)

The rule fits one question: do they know me? Is there age or rank in the way? Am I in a young group chat? Three different yeses give 你好, 您好, or 嗨. You do not need a tree of 50 greetings. You need not to use the same one at 前台, at a fair, and in class. Hotel 前台, if the problem is the booking, goes back to travel; if the problem is the pronoun, stay here.

你好，老师。 (nǐ hǎo, lǎoshī, hello, teacher)

早上好, 下午好, 晚上好 exist. On the six-level HSK you mostly see 早上 / 下午 / 晚上 + 好. 早安 is more Taiwan or a calque. Do not sing the hour if the tone on 好 drops. A flat 早上好 is not fixed by adding 中午好 you will barely use.

早上好 (zǎoshang hǎo, good morning)

下午好 (xiàwǔ hǎo, good afternoon)

晚上好 (wǎnshang hǎo, good evening — greeting)

Chinese does not force you to mark the hour. 你好 at 9:00 is not rude. Calquing good morning at every hour is the English-speaker miss. In a taxi, 你好 is enough. On WeChat with a colleague, 最近怎么样 closes better than a stiff 您好.

最近怎么样？ (zuìjìn zěnmeyàng, how have you been?)

你呢？ (nǐ ne, and you?)

最近怎么样 assumes you know the person. Do not drop it at 安检. Do not put it in the travel deck as if it were 几号登机口.

Three different jobs. 再见 closes in general. 拜拜 is informal. 明天见 only if it is true. 下次见 if there is no date. 一路顺风 is for someone setting off. 慢走 is heard more from the person who stays. Do not study them as synonyms.

再见 (zàijiàn, goodbye)

拜拜 (bàibài, bye)

明天见 (míngtiān jiàn, see you tomorrow)

下次见 (xià cì jiàn, see you next time)

一路顺风 (yílù shùnfēng, have a smooth journey)

慢走 (màn zǒu, take care / go slowly)

我先走了 (wǒ xiān zǒu le, I will head out)

回头见 (huítóu jiàn, see you later)

一路顺风 is not dropped leaving a 7-Eleven. 慢走 is a host's line. 我先走了 is polite at a table. 回头见 is close. 祝你有美好的一天 is a calque of English customer service; do not put it in HSK 1.

晚安 (wǎn’ān, good night — closing)

The classroom trick is to pair, not to collect. Shop: 谢谢 plus 再见. Someone's home: you hear 慢走; you do not say it leaving a 7-Eleven. A real platform: 一路顺风 to the person setting off. A table where you stand up: 我先走了. If all four come out in the same order every night, they are still a list, not a register.

谢谢，再见。 (xièxie, zàijiàn, thanks, goodbye)

久仰 is literary. In an HSK 1 café it sounds like a play. At a fair, 很高兴认识您 does the same job with less theatre. That work line lives in business phrases, not as a hallway greeting in this deck.

久仰 (jiǔyǎng, I have long heard of you)

很高兴认识您 (hěn gāoxìng rènshi nín, glad to meet you)

请多关照 (qǐng duō guānzhào, please look after me — company intro)

请多关照 shows up in company intros. It is not a hallway greeting. Do not park it next to 早上好. 谢谢 + 再见 closes a shop. 谢谢您 closes a desk. The difference is one character and a register, not HSK 6.

谢谢 (xièxie, thanks)

谢谢您 (xièxie nín, thank you — polite)

不客气 (bú kèqi, you are welcome)

It is not the pack of 20 from month one. There is no 这个多少钱 here, no 请再说一遍 as inventory, no 三本书. If price or repair fails, go back. Register does not replace month-one mouth.

It is not travel. 登机牌 is not a greeting. 一路顺风 can close a platform, but the platform is rehearsed in travel. T-21 calendar: Chinese for travel.

It is not restaurant. 老师好 does not ask for 不要辣. It is not the fair path: 交货 waits on business phrases.

It is not the exam syllabus. 你好 shows up in HSK 1. 久仰 does not. Signup: chinesetest.cn. Starting plan: month one.

Calquing good morning at every hour. In Chinese the time line is optional. 你好 is not rude at 9:00. Spending month one on 中午好 is collecting stickers.

Using 你 with everyone because the course glossed it as you. English also has distance. In a first business meeting, 你 can sound blunt even when the gloss is right.

Ignoring the tone of 你 and 您. If they sound the same, the register falls. The character on screen does not save the lobby. Tones.

你 (nǐ, you)

您 (nín, polite you)

Dropping 一路顺风 on a cashier or 久仰 in a supermarket. The first is a real departure. The second is literature or theatre. 谢谢 + 再见 covers the shop.

Gluing 嗨 to 老师. 老师好 or surname + 老师 does the job. 嗨老师 sounds like chat stuck to a role.

Minutes 1–5: 你好 and 您好 in pairs. Same sentence, two distances. Record. If they merge, do not move to 一路顺风. Sandhi on 你好: ear, not infographic.

你好 (nǐ hǎo, hello)

您好 (nín hǎo, hello — polite you)

Minutes 6–10: one morning line and one close. 早上好 + 再见. Then 明天见 only if you invent that it is true. 拜拜 for a classmate, not for 前台.

早上好 (zǎoshang hǎo, good morning)

Minutes 11–15: three farewells, three situations. Shop: 谢谢, 再见. Table where you leave: 我先走了. Someone setting off: 一路顺风. Do not recite them in the same order every day.

我先走了 (wǒ xiān zǒu le, I will head out)

一路顺风 (yílù shùnfēng, have a smooth journey)

If 你 and 您 still match by ear, cut the drill and go back to tones. Register does not stick on top of a flat contour. 您好 with an invented fourth tone is still 你好 said badly.

You pick 你 or 您 before you open your mouth. You have a morning line and a close 再见 / 明天见. You save 一路顺风 for a real departure. You do not use 久仰 in a supermarket. You do not glue 嗨 to 老师.

If this is green and you still cannot introduce yourself, go back to basic phrases. If the problem is the fair, business and the work path. The paper: HSK 1. Signup, if it comes: chinesetest.cn. Framework: CLEC.