03.27.07
ni hao ma?
If you’re a foreigner who has studied Chinese, most likely during your first Chinese lesson you learned the phrase ni hao ma. Ni hao ma is probably the most accurate literal translation for “how are you?” however there is one problem. Chinese people never say this to each other. The only time I have heard it used among Chinese people is when translating “How are you?” into Chinese. This begs the obvious question. If Chinese people never say ni hao ma, why is it on the first page of nearly every Chinese textbook in existence? The problem lies in the fact that often it is impossible to literally translate greetings. When you are asking somebody “how are you?” you are not concerned with their answer. Instead you are acknowledging their presence, and allowing them the opportunity to reaffirm yours. Chinese works the same way, except their common greetings are a little more colorful than ours in English. If I were writing my own Chinese book, I would use the following 3 phrases as equivalents of “how are you?”
| 你吃了吗？ | ni3 chi1 le ma | Have you eaten yet? |
| 去哪里啊？ | qu4 na3 li3 a1 | Where are you going? |
| 在干吗啊？ | zai4 gan4 ma a1 | What are you doing? |
Westerners sometimes feel uncomfortable when Chinese people ask them these questions, especially if it is in English. This can also cause some cultural misunderstanding. Here’s an example of a conversation I had with my friend Jin Long on my third day in China.
(phone rings at 8 am)
Ben: Hello.
Jin Long: Hello Ben, have you had your breakfast?
Ben (excited): No not yet, wanna get breakfast together?
Jin Long: Of course not.
Ben (surprised): Why not?
Jin Long: I have already eaten my breakfast.
Ben (confused): …Oh, I see.
In fact, nobody really cares whether or not you have eaten lunch. It’s just their way of saying “How are you?” or as we might say ni hao ma.
Sin
said,
March 28, 2007 at 2:23 am
indeed, i cant remember the last time i said ‘ni hao ma’. I hardly even say ‘ni hao’ anymore either. occasionally i fall back on ‘ni hao’ when i am put into an uncomfortable situation; such as when i am being introduced to people whom i have no idea why i am being introduced to them. But generally i have found greeting people with English greetings work better and just about everyone understands, or skip greetings altogether and just get straight to conversation (small talk). that seems to be what most Chinese do.
Matt Schiavenza
said,
March 28, 2007 at 2:40 pm
Ha- I’ve never heard a Chinese person tell me “Have you eaten yet?” in English. I’d have probably been just as taken aback as you were. I’ve also never heard ni hao ma before, nor even “ni hao” all that often.
vivi
said,
March 28, 2007 at 3:23 pm
Hello Ben,你好吗？
vivi
said,
March 28, 2007 at 3:24 pm
呵呵，这次你写的我都能看懂哦~~
chriswaugh_bj
said,
March 28, 2007 at 6:35 pm
Then there are all those little greetings like
“You’re off to the fields?”
“Yes, I’m off to the fields.”
“You’ve come back!”
“Yes.”
And many other similar statements of the bleeding obvious that always struck me as being slightly absurd.
Someone
said,
March 28, 2007 at 8:11 pm
just like English textbooks. “Good morning” often appears at the begining of the book. But do you often say “Good morning” or “Morning”?
Someone
said,
March 28, 2007 at 8:20 pm
And I think some Chinese sentences can be translated into English directly.
Just like we can translate “How are you” into“怎么是你”
Why can’t we do like this?
你吃了吗？ ni3 chi1 le ma [Formal]Have you eaten yet?
[informal]What’s up?
Someone
said,
March 28, 2007 at 8:21 pm
There is a mistake :
Just like we can translate “How are you” into“怎么是你”
↓
can’t
Kate
said,
March 28, 2007 at 10:52 pm
Yeah, as Sin said, I most frequently use ni hao when I’m meeting someone for the first time, but I also use it to greet people who I see regularly but who I don’t have a personal relationship with (like doormen and the ladies who clean the building). Asking if they’ve eaten seems too personal–am I wrong about that?
Before my folks came to visit me in Shanghai last fall, they took a few Chinese classes and my mother would persistently say “ni hao” and then smile really big to every person who even looked at her (which was actually a lot of people, cause how often even in Shang do you see an adult laowai with her parents?). Anyway, it was very cute.
kurt
said,
March 29, 2007 at 11:12 pm
Ni hao ma! (Sorry.)
Nice blog; I’m trying to learn Mandarin myself, using Pimsleur, Chinesepod, etc.; any suggestions on working on listening comprehension (without going to China)?
Where in KC did you go to high school? (I grew up in KC as well.)
James
said,
March 30, 2007 at 9:30 am
It’s polite You say “ni hao”to geet doormen and the ladies who clean the building. But unluckily few Chinese do it.
Benjamin Ross
said,
March 30, 2007 at 1:28 pm
Kurt-
Send me an e-mail at bensinchina /at/ yahoo.com and we cat chat about china and KC.
-Ben
jennie
said,
April 1, 2007 at 12:39 pm
exactly,in china ,we may not use “have you eaten?”,it’s out of date.
Danielle
said,
April 2, 2007 at 9:18 pm
I really hate being asked “what’s up” 800 times a day…… What am i supposed to answer?? I’m totally sick of answering “fine” but, i would probably struck up a conversation with the beginning word “why not”, which is exactly not what i want to hear, by answering “not so…” Why can’t we just give each other a huge smile or just say hello, instead of those meaningless “dialogues”?
Ray
said,
April 3, 2007 at 5:34 am
Definitely,we never say ni hao ma as our greeting.it seems u r very familiar with chinese culture.
ZL
said,
April 10, 2007 at 8:54 am
“You’ve come back!”
“Yes.”
Yeah, I hate that one too. Goes something like.
Them: “Ah, Ni hui lai le?” (Ah, you’re back!?!”)
Me: (Turn, look at the door I just walked through, look at myself, look at door again. Double check that I am not transparent or otherwise invisable) : “Yea, looks like it.”
shaofang
said,
June 18, 2007 at 4:07 pm
i am really happy to know you by the god’s help i search on line .i would like to know you more ,your know better than me ,even who is chinese.
i feel quilty.
nice to hear from you soon,thanks
Best regards,
Susan.