Greetings and courtesy

Goals

• Say hello and goodbye in casual and polite forms
• Thank, apologize, and reply naturally
• Use 吗 and 呢 in simple social check-ins
• Choose 你 vs 您 appropriately
• Shadow full greeting exchanges, not only single words

Hello and goodbye

你好 is the default hello. 您好 is polite/respectful.

再见 is standard goodbye; 拜拜 is casual.

Time-based greetings like 早上好 / 晚上好 are friendly openers.

Thanks and replies

谢谢 / 谢谢你 are everyday thanks. 不客气 is the classic reply.

没关系 often responds to apologies or small problems.

Smile and clear tone matter as much as perfect vocabulary.

Sorry and excuse me

对不起 is a clear sorry. 不好意思 is softer for small inconveniences.

请问 softens a request for information.

Use these before asking strangers for help.

How are you?

你好吗？ is a direct check-in. 我很好 and 还好 are common replies.

你呢？ tosses the question back.

Do not overuse English-style long small talk; short exchanges are natural.

Putting it together

Practice a full micro-dialogue: hello → thanks → goodbye.

Switch 你/您 based on age/formality.

Reuse these lines in the greetings word deck and phrase pack.

Takeaways

• Learn polite and casual pairs together (你/您, 再见/拜拜).
• 请问 is a high-value softener before questions.
• Short social scripts beat memorizing every greeting variant.
• Always speak greetings with correct tone sandhi (你好).

Quick check