Vocabulary
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Learn the key pattern to ask about well-being
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Let's take a closer look at the conversation. |
First, do you remember how Mark asks Wei, |
"How are you?" |
你好吗?(Nǐ hǎo ma?) |
First is 你 (nǐ), "you." 你. 你. |
Next is 好 (hǎo),"good." 好. 好. |
Pronunciation note, when there are two third tones in a row, the first one changes to the second tone. Listen to the pronunciation again. 你好 (Nǐ hǎo). 你好 (Nǐ hǎo). |
Last is 吗 (ma), the question-marking particle. It turns a sentence into a question. 吗. 吗. |
All together, 你好吗? (Nǐ hǎo ma?) literally "You good?," but it translates as "How are you?" |
你好吗? |
Let's take a closer look at the response. |
Do you remember how Wei says, |
"I'm good." |
我很好。(Wǒ hěn hǎo.) |
First is (wǒ), "I." 我. 我. |
Next is 很 (hěn), "very."很. 很. |
Last is 好 (hǎo),"good." 好. 好. |
Pronunciation note, here there are three third tones in a row, the first two change to the second tone. Listen to the pronunciation again. 我很好 (Wǒ hěn hǎo). 我很好(Wǒ hěn hǎo). |
All together, 我很好。(Wǒ hěn hǎo.), literally, "I very good," but translates as, "I [am] good." |
我很好。(Wǒ hěn hǎo.) |
Note, there is no linking verb in this sentence. Instead, 很 is placed between the noun, 我, and adjective, 好. This is a common pattern when describing a noun with an adjective. |
Noun 很 Adjective. |
When talking to someone of higher social status, such as a superior at the office, seniors, etc., you can say, |
您好吗?(Nín hǎo ma?) How are you? 您好吗?(Nín hǎo ma?) |
This starts with 您 (nín), "you" when using formal Chinese. 您 . 您. |
您 is often used to show respect to people 您. |
Remember this phrase 您好吗?(Nín hǎo ma?) "How are you?" you'll need it again later. |
Note, Chinese native speakers are more likely to ask about each other's well-being when they haven't seen each other for a while. |
When you want to show your concern because the other person does not look so well, a good phrase to use is 你还好吗?(Nǐ hái hǎo ma?) |
"Are you alright?" |
你还好吗?(Nǐ hái hǎo ma?) |
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