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Greetings 问候 Wèn hòu
This is Jack’s first time in Beijing. He is working in China as a representative of an American company. Jack met Lily two years ago when she was a visiting scholar in the United States. Now Lily is a professor at a university in Beijing. They have not seen each other for two years. One Friday afternoon, Jack comes to Lily’s house to visit her.
In this chapter, you will learn how to greet people in Chinese. You also will learn useful sentences, ways to extend your vocabulary (yes, already!), a saying by Confucius, idioms, a well-known Chinese poem, and interesting Chinese culture tips.
Let’s start!
Turn on your audio and listen to the list on the right: New Words 1. Then follow along with me to read each word, and repeat it during the pauses provided. Pay carefully attention to the tones, please.
Okay, are you ready to move on to Dialog 1? Listen to each sentence of the dialog as you read along. Then, join us as we repeat the dialog. You can practice as much as you want. It may take a few times before you start to feel comfortable with saying the dialog sentences!
Jack:Excuse me, is Lily home?
Qǐng wèn, Lì li zài jiā ma?
请 问, 丽丽在家吗？
Lily:Yes. Please come in!
Zài, qǐng jìn!
在, 请 进！
Jack:Hello, Lily!
Nǐ hǎo, Lì li!
你 好, 丽丽！
Lily:Hello, Jack!
Nǐ hǎo, Jié kè!
你 好, 杰克！
Jack:I haven’t seen you for a long time. How are you?
Hǎo jiǔ bú jiàn, nǐ hǎo ma?
好 久 不 见, 你 好 吗？
Lily:I’m fine, how about you?
Wǒ hěn hǎo, nǐ ne?
我 很 好, 你呢？
Jack:I’m fine, too.
Wǒ yě hěn hǎo.
我 也 很 好。
| 问候 wèn hòu | greeting |
| 请 qǐng | please |
| 问 wèn | ask |
| 丽丽 Lì li | Lily |
| 在 zài | in |
| 家 jiā | home |
| 吗 ma | interrogative particle |
| 进 jìn | come in |
| 你 nǐ | you |
| 好 hǎo | good |
| 你好 nǐ hǎo | hello |
| 杰克 Jié kè | Jack |
| 好久 hǎo jiǔ | long time |
| 不 bú | no, not |
| 见 jiàn | see |
| 我 wǒ | I |
| 很 hěn | very |
| 呢 ne | interrogative particle |
| 也 yě | also |
Notes 注 释
➊ You may have noticed that sometimes the definitions of words in the “New Words” list are slightly different from the words’ meanings as they’re translated in the dialog. For instance, the word 很好 hěn hǎo means “very good” in English, but it means “I am fine” in the context of the dialog. You’ll want to keep this fact—typical of most languages—in mind as you study the vocabulary.
➋ The word 吗 ma is a particle commonly used at the end of a sentence to convert the sentence into a yes/no question; it doesn’t need to be translated into English.
➌ 呢 Ne is another particle that’s added at the end of the sentence. It’s frequently used to ask a question related to a conversation. Look at the dialog again. Jack asks Lily: “好久不见, 你好吗? Hǎo jiǔ bú jiàn, nǐ hǎo ma?” Lily replies: “我很好, 你呢? Wǒ hěn hǎo, nǐ ne?” Here, 你呢 nǐ ne means “How are you (Jack) doing?”
Here are some short and easy sentences from the dialog that are used routinely in China. Practice them so that you’ll be ready to use them whenever the right situation comes up.
Qǐng jìn!
请 进! (Please come in!)
Nǐ hǎo ma?
你好 吗? (How are you?)
Wǒ hěn hǎo.
我 很 好。(I’m fine.)
Wǒ yě hěn hǎo.
我也 很 好。(I’m fine, too.)
In Dialog 1, Lily and Jack use the word 好 hǎo several times. When the word 好 hǎo is used in conjunction with other words, the intensity of the meaning changes. Here are three samples. Later, in the Substitutions section of Practice and Review, there are exercises to help you learn how to use these words.
| fēi cháng hǎo非常好very good | tài hǎo le太好了wonderful | hǎo jí le好极了great |
You have learned how greetings work when people meet each other. But what are they
