How to say “how are you” in Chinese
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Pinyin colour key: tone 1 (high flat), tone 2 (rising), tone 3 (dipping), tone 4 (falling), neutral.
Word by word
Tone tip
吗 (ma) is a neutral-tone question particle - say it short and light, no tone. As with 你好, the 你+好 here also runs into third-tone sandhi.
In a sentence
Hǎojiǔ bú jiàn, nǐ hǎo ma?
Long time no see, how are you?
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Start freeFrequently asked questions
How do you say "how are you" in Chinese?+
"how are you" in Mandarin Chinese is 你好吗, pronounced nǐ hǎo ma. 吗 (ma) is a neutral-tone question particle - say it short and light, no tone. As with 你好, the 你+好 here also runs into third-tone sandhi.
What does 你好吗 mean literally?+
你好吗 breaks down as 你 (nǐ) = you, 好 (hǎo) = good / well, 吗 (ma) = (yes/no question particle). Together it means "how are you".
How do I get the tones right in nǐ hǎo ma?+
吗 (ma) is a neutral-tone question particle - say it short and light, no tone. As with 你好, the 你+好 here also runs into third-tone sandhi.
More phrases like this
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What each tone sounds like and why it matters.
Why some tones change in connected speech.
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See all the phrases on the how to say things in Chinese index, or read how to learn Mandarin tones.