Unit III:

GREETINGS AND COMMON EXPRESSIONS

Introduction
Greetings are always one of the first things someone learns when
studying a new language. They’re the key to ensuring the people you talk
to have a good impression of you right from the beginning. A proper Chinese
greeting can really open up the gate to a fuller, desired conversation.
If you’re a beginner in learning Chinese, the very first question
for you to ask is“How do you say‘hello’in Chinese?”There are different
Chinese greetings for a number of occasions, so now let’s help you grasp
the gist of greeting in the Chinese language like a native!

Learning Outcomes
At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to:
1. Clearly express Chinese greetings and common expressions;
2. Identify the different Pinyin rules in pronouncing words and
sentences; and
3. Demonstrate accurate pronunciation of basic Chinese words, phrases,
and sentences.
4. Demonstrate some Chinese calligraphy of the basic greetings and
common expressions.
Central Activity
Learning Input No. 1
New Chinese Words

Types of Point of View

English Chinese Pinyin Chinese Characters
I ; Me wǒ 我

We ; Us wǒmen 我们

Plural Form men 们

You nǐ 你

You (Plural) nǐmen 你们

You (Polite form) nín 您

He / She / It tā 他 / 她 / 它

They tāmen 他们 / 她们

New Words
English Chinese Pinyin Chinese Characters
Everyone dàjiā 大家
very hěn 很
Good ; fine ; OK hǎo 好
No ; not bù 不
Question particle ma 吗
 Learning Input No. 2
Social Greetings

Social Greetings
Chinese Pinyin English Chinese Characters
1. Nǐ means You.
nǐ hǎo! 你好！
Hǎo means good.
2. Nín means You.
nín hǎo! 您好！
(Courtesy form)
3. Nǐ means You.
nǐmen hǎo 你们好！
(Plural form)
4. Dàjiā means Everyone.
dàjiā hǎo 大家好！
Literally means everyone good
(Everyone is good)

Rules of Tone Changes

1. Tone changes for third tones
When a 3rd tone (such as “nǐ 你”) is followed by another 3rd tone in a group, the
first 3rd tone changes to a 2nd tone.
Chinese We write We say
1.
你好 nǐ hǎo ní hǎo
2.
很好 hěn hǎo hén hǎo
3.
可以 kě yǐ
4.
己所 jǐ suǒ

Text: “Nǐ hǎo!”

Chinese version English version

Nín hǎo! A: Hello!
A: 您好！
Nǐ hǎo! B: Hello!
B: 你好！
 Chinese version English version
Nǐ hǎo ma? A: How are you?
A: 你好吗？
Wǒ hěn hǎo, nǐ ne? B: I’m fine, how
B: 我很好，你呢？ about you?

Wǒ bù hǎo. A: I’m not okay.

A: 我不好。

NOTE : Nǐ hǎo means You good.

“ma?” means Question particle
Literally means You good?

Oral Drill
Try to have a conversation with your classmates using the text above.

A: nǐ hǎo!
B:________.

A: nǐ hǎo ma?
B: ____, nǐ ne?

A: _______.

Phrases
Chinese English Chinese English
Good Morning Good Afternoon
zǎoshang hǎo zhōngwǔ hǎo
6:00-9:00 12:00-1:00
Good Morning Good Afternoon
shàngwǔ hǎo xiàwǔ hǎo
9:00-12:00 1:00-6:00
Good Evening
wǎnshang hǎo wǎn ān Good Night
6:00-10:00

hǎo jiǔ bù jiàn Long time no see zàijiàn Goodbye / Bye

 Learning Input No. 3
Common Expressions

Common Expressions
Chinese Pinyin Chinese Character English

wǒ ài nǐ 我爱你 I love you

wǒ xǐhuān nǐ 我喜欢你 I like you

wǒ xiǎng nǐ 我想你 I miss you

wǒ tǎoyàn nǐ 我讨厌你 I hate you

wǒ hèn nǐ 我恨你 I hate you

Negative Form: S + bù (不) + V + O
Wǒ bù ài nǐ

2. Tone changes for "bù" (不)

When followed by a 4th tone, 不 (bù) changes to 2nd tone (bú).
Chinese We write We say

不是 bù shì bú shì

不爱 bù ài bú ài

bù chī （bù + 1st tone）

bù hǎo（bù + 3rd tone）
bù nénɡ（bù + 2nd tone）

Text: Common Expressions

Chinese version English version

Xièxie nǐ! A:Thank you!
A: 谢谢你！
Bù kèqi! B: You’re welcome!
B: 不客气！
 Chinese version English version
Duì bu qĭ! A: I’m sorrry!
A: 对不起！
Méi guān xi. / Méi B: It doesn’t matter.
shì. / It’s OK.
B: 没关系。/ 没事。

Classroom Expressions

Chinese English
shàng kè! Class begins!
xià kè! Class dismiss!
A: Tóngxué men hǎo! A: Hello students!
B: Lǎoshī hǎo! B: Hello teacher!
A: Nǐmen dǒng le ma? A: Did you understand?
B: Dǒng le. / bù dǒng. B: Understood. / don’t understand.
Hěn hǎo！ Very good!

Other Expressions
Chinese English
jiérì kuàilè! Happy holidays!
Xīnnián kuàilè! Happy New Year!
Zhōngqiūjié kuàilè! Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!
Shèngdàn jié kuàilè! Merry Christmas!
Shēngrì kuàilè! Happy Birthday!

Way to wish someone a happy holiday:

Zhù nǐ + holiday + kuàilè!
Zhù; express good wish/ wishes
Ex. Zhù nǐ shēngrì kuàilè!