Greetings & Formality
Greetings & Formality
Chinese greetings are simple to start with — but one of the first surprises is that Chinese has no dedicated word for "yes" or "no" the way English does.
Grammar Comparison
Grammar Comparison
您 nín vs. 你 nǐ — a light-touch formality
你 nǐ (everyday "you") — 您 nín (respectful "you")
you — you (respectful)
Chinese has a formal "you", 您 (nín), used with elders, teachers, customers, or anyone you want to show extra respect to — a level of formality English lost long ago. But it's used far less rigidly than you might expect: younger generations increasingly default to 你 (nǐ) even in fairly polite contexts, and getting it "wrong" rarely causes real offense. As a beginner, 你 is a safe default; reach for 您 mainly with older people or in customer-service settings.
There's no single word for "yes" or "no"
你是学生吗？— 是 / 不是 (Are you a student? — [I] am / [I] am not)
Are you a student? — Yes / No
This is one of the biggest surprises for English speakers: Chinese doesn't have a fixed "yes" or "no" word. Instead, you typically answer by repeating the main verb (affirmative) or negating it. Asked 你是学生吗？("Are you a student?"), you answer 是 (shì — "am") for yes or 不是 (bú shì — "am not") for no. Ask a different kind of question — 你有钱吗？("Do you have money?") — and the "yes/no" pair changes to 有/没有 (yǒu/méiyǒu — "have/don't have") instead. You'll get comfortable with this the more questions you practice answering.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
- English
- Hello
- English
- Hello (respectful)
- English
- Good morning
- English
- Good evening
- English
- Good night
- English
- Goodbye
- English
- Bye-bye (casual)
- English
- Thanks
- English
- You're welcome
- English
- Please
- English
- Sorry
- English
- How are you?
- English
- I'm good