Hello!
Nǐ hǎo. The two third tones change in connected speech: the first is usually pronounced with a rising tone.
FREE BEGINNER LESSON 1 · MANDARIN CHINESE
Mandarin Chinese: First words
Say hello, greet someone politely and say goodbye.
Neutral · everyday greetings. Learn the meaning, listen to the pronunciation, then practise in the interactive lesson.
Try your first lessonOpening vocabulary referenceUseful Mandarin Chinese phrases and their meanings
Good morning!
Zǎoshang hǎo is a friendly morning greeting.
Thank you.
Xièxie has a light second syllable.
Goodbye!
Zàijiàn literally suggests seeing each other again.
How the sentence works
Mandarin uses tones to distinguish meanings. Pinyin is a reading aid: mā, má, mǎ and mà have different tones. 你好 is a neutral hello; 您好 is more respectful. Characters stay visible alongside pronunciation. 再见 is an ordinary goodbye.
A short conversation in Mandarin Chinese
Hello!
Good morning!
Goodbye!
Words to recognise
hello
morning
thank you
goodbye
Listen to the whole phrase before focusing on each word. You can replay as often as you like, and the interactive lesson uses pictures and a short exchange to put the meaning in context.
Open the interactive lessonThe opening six teaching lessons are free, including the mini-tests after lessons three and six. A test accepts any answer and shows the score and corrections at the end. No typing or speaking aloud is required.
Keep learning Mandarin Chinese
Free five-minute audio lesson and MP3 · Language learning games
The pronunciation uses prepared synthetic voices. Credits and licences explain the free voice models. Independent native-speaker certification is not claimed.