Basic Mandarin Chinese | Lesson 5 | Greetings and pleasantries

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Nǐ hǎo Lesson 5 on Basic Mandarin!


Revision

English Mandarin Type

Not Bú Adv.

Bad Cuò Adj.

Still Hái Adv.

Ok Kěyǐ Adj.


Revision-Etiquette conversation

English Mandarin

Thanks Xièxie

You are welcome Bú kèqi

Sorry Bù hǎo yì si/Duì bù qǐ

It's alright Méi ɡuān xi


1 Greetings and pleasantries


What's in store today?

Today we will learn some more common greetings and pleasantries, like good

morning, good afternoon, etc…


Greetings and pleasantries

'Good morning' literally translates to 'Morning peace' in Mandarin



Morning (literally, first sun) = Zǎo Peace = 'Ān

Thus, literally 'Zǎo'ān' translates to 'Morning peace'


Tonal tip

Zǎo is pronounced using the 'falling rising' tone

Lets hear you say Zǎo


Tonal tip

'Ān is pronounced using a 'high level' tone

Lets hear you say 'Ān'



Good morning

Zǎo'ān



Just like in English, where we often use just 'morning' to wish 'good morning';

we can also use 'Zǎo' alone to wish someone 'good morning'


Moving on...

Let's now look at 'Good evening'



'Good evening' literally translates to 'evening good' in Mandarin



Evening = Wǎnshàng

The word for evening is loosely a combination of two words:

Wǎn = Night Shàng = Before

However, while writing it is always written as oneword : Wǎnshàng


Tonal tip

Wǎn is pronounced using the 'falling rising' tone

Lets hear you say Wǎn


Tonal tip

Shàng is pronounced using a falling tone

Lets hear you say Shàng



Evening = Wǎnshàng Good = Hǎo


So our phrase translates to...

Good evening

Wǎnshàng hǎo


Tonal tip

Now, you already know how to say 'Hǎo', let’s bring it together and pronounce Wǎnshàng hǎo

Lets hear you say Good evening = Wǎnshàng hǎo

Great! Now let's move on and look at 'Good night'



'Good night' literally translates to 'Night peace' in Mandarin



Night = Wǎn Peace = Ān

Thus, literally 'Wǎn'ān' translates to 'Night peace'


Tonal tip

Wǎn is pronounced using the 'falling rising' tone

Lets hear you say Wǎn


Tonal tip

Ān is pronounced using a high level

Lets hear you say 'Ān'



Good night

Wǎn'ān


Greetings

English Mandarin

Good morning Zǎo'ān

Good afternoon/evening Wǎnshàng hǎo

Good night Wǎn'ān


Let's see if you remember…


Pick the right option

What is the meaning of Zǎo'ān ?

1

Good morning

2

Good afternoon

3

Good night



What tone does 'Shàng' carry?

1

Falling

2

High

3

Rising



What does the word 'Wǎn' mean?

1

Night

2

Good

3

Morning


Moving on…

Now let's move on to some other commonly used greetings in social situations!



Very = Tài Good = Hǎo Excess = Le

Thus,'Tài hǎo le' translates to 'an excess of goodness'



Literally speaking, 'Tài hǎo le' translates to 'very good excess'


Tonal tip

Tài is pronounced with a 'falling' tone

Let's try and say it once again, Tài


Tonal tip

Le is pronounced with a neutral tone, we already know how to say hǎo

Now let's try and pronounce the whole phrase together!

Tài hǎo le, meaning wonderful!


More greetings

Wonderful!

Tài hǎo le!


Culturally speaking

Tài hǎo le can be applied to many situations, such as someone agreeing to see you again,

someone giving you a business card, etc…


Moving on…

Let's learn another important phrase, that translates to 'How’s everyone today?', or

'Good day, everyone!'

Let's see the vocabulary required for this!


Vocabulary

English Mandarin

Everyone Dàjiā

Good Hǎo


Pronunciation tip

Now that we know the meaning, let’s move

on to pronouncing 'Dàjiā'

We will start with pronouncing 'Dà' and 'Jiā' separately


Tonal tip

'Dà' is pronounced using the 'falling' tone


Tonal tip

Let's try and say Dà

Once again, with a 'falling' tone - Dà


Tonal tip

'Jiā' meaning home, is said with a high level tone


Tonal tip

Let's try and say Jiā

Once again, with a 'high level' tone Jiā


Tonal tip

Now let's try and pronounce it as one word 'Dàjiā'

Great! Now lets add 'Hǎo', to get 'Dàjiā hǎo'


More greetings

Literally, 'everyone good!'

Good day, everyone!

Dàjiā hǎo!


Culturally speaking

Dàjiā hǎo, is usually used when giving a speech or otherwise addressing a large

group of people!


Moving on…

We learnt that to say 'thanks' in Mandarin,

we use the phrase 'Xièxie', a common reply to thank you, is by using the phrase 'Nǎ lǐ'

It means, 'It was nothing' or 'It's okay!'

Let's learn how to say 'Nǎ lǐ'


Tonal tip

'Nǎ' is pronounced using the 'falling rising' tone


Tonal tip

Let's try and say Nǎ

Once again, with a 'falling' tone - Nǎ


Tonal tip

'Lǐ', is also said with a 'falling rising' tone


Tonal tip

Let's try and say Lǐ

Once again, with a 'falling rising' tone Lǐ


More greetings

It's nothing really!

Nǎ lǐ!


Culturally speaking

Nǎ lǐ is a standard response to a compliment

Do not say 'Xièxie' while replying to a compliment!


Grammar tip

This example of 'Nǎ lǐ' is appropriate to show that even though words in Mandarin have separate meanings of their own, upon clubbing together,

they form different meanings

'Nǎ' and 'lǐ' both have different meanings, separately, but together, they imply a

reply to 'thank you'


Let's see if you remember…



How do we say 'Wonderful' in Mandarin?

1

Tài hǎo le

2

Dàjiā hǎo



What tone does 'jiā' carry?

1

High level

2

Mid rising

3

Falling



How does one reply to compliments in Mandarin?

1

Nǎ lǐ

2

Jiā lǐ

3

Jiā nǎ


Revision

English Mandarin

Good morning Zǎo'ān

Good afternoon/evening Wǎnshàng hǎo

Good night Wǎn'ān

Wonderful! Tài hǎo le!

Good day, everyone! Dàjiā hǎo!

It’s nothing really! Nǎ lǐ!


Culture Leaf


Culture leaf

Chinese New Year is the longest and most important festivity in the Chinese calendar

It is also known as the Lunar New Year or Spring Festival as it marks the

end of the winter season, analogous to the Western Carnival


Culture leaf

It is also traditional for every family to thoroughlycleanse the house, in order to sweep away any ill-fortune and to make way for good incoming

luck

On the eve of the Chinese New Year, families makeit a point to have a feast together with all the

members, they also light up firecrackers all through the night!


Culture leaf

Windows and doors are decorated with red colour

paper-cuts and couplets with popular themes of 'good fortune'

or 'happiness', wealth', and 'longevity'


What's next?

In the next lesson, we will have a conversation about meeting new friends!


Credits

Content Team CultureAlley, Sunny Dang

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_new_year

Images http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_chinese_home

_decorated_for_New_Years.jpg Whoisgalt


See you at the Alley!


Basic Mandarin Chinese | Lesson 5 | Greetings and pleasantries

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