Greetings/ترحيبات/问候(wènhòu)

Greetings/ترحيبات/问候(wènhòu)

hello/مرحبا/你好(Nǐ hǎo)
The most common greeting, used when meeting someone for the first time that day.

good morning/صباح الخير /早上好(Zǎoshang hǎo)

Used only in the morning (before noon).

good afternoon/مساء الخير/下午好(Xiàwǔ hǎo)

This greeting is used between noon and 5pm.

good evening/مساء الخير /晚上好(Wǎnshàng hǎo)

This greeting is used after 5pm.

hi/مرحبا/您好(Nín hǎo)

Informal greeting.

After the greeting

How are you?/كيف حالك؟/你怎么样(Nǐ zěnme yàng?)

After you greet someone, it is customary to ask "how are you?" In English, this is just a polite question; you should not respond with a lot of detail.

How's it going?/كيف تسير الأمور؟/怎么样了(Zěnme yàngle?)

This is an informal way to ask "how are you?"

Reponses

fine/جيد/精细(Jīngxì)

This is the most common way to respond to "how are you?"

good/جيد/顶(Hǎo)

Another common way to respond.

not so good/ليس على ما يرام/不是那么好(Bùshì nàme hǎo)

If you do not feel well or have other problems, you can respond with this.

so so / OK/لدرجة / موافق/所以/确定(Suǒyǐ/quèdìng)

The meaning of these somewhat informal responses is in between "fine" and "not so good."

Informal

What's up? / What's new?/ما الأمر؟ / ما هو الجديد؟/这是怎么回事？ /有什么新的吗(Zhè shì zěnme huí shì? )

These are very informal ways of asking "how are you?"

nothing / nothing much/لا شيء / لا شيء كثيرا/没有/没有什么(Méishénme/méishénme

These responses can only be used to answer "what's up?" and "what's new?"

Departing

good-bye/وداعا/再见(Zàijiàn)

This is what you say when you leave.

good night/ليلة سعيدة/晚安(Wǎn'ān)

This means "good-bye" but is used only at night (after 7pm).

bye/وداعا/再见(Zàijiàn)

An informal way to say "good-bye."

see you later / see you soon/نراكم في وقت لاحق / نراكم قريبا/后来看到你/很快见到你(Hòulái kàn dào nǐ/hěn kuài jiàn dào nǐ)

Other informal ways to say "good-bye" used when you are likely to see the person again later that day, or when you have plans to see each other again.