Learn Chinese: Greetings and Basic Pronouns

This lesson introduces the essential foundation of Mandarin Chinese: how to address people and navigate basic social interactions. Mastering these words is your first step toward building relationships and understanding the structure of Chinese sentences. You will learn core greetings like 你好 (nǐ hǎo) for hello and basic politeness formulas such as 谢谢 (xièxie) for thank you and its response 不客气 (bú kèqi) for you're welcome. Being able to use social lubricants like 对不起 (duìbuqǐ) for sorry or 请 (qǐng) for please ensures you can communicate with respect from day one.

One of the most useful patterns in this set is the logical way Chinese handles pronouns and plurals. To make a personal pronoun plural, you simply add the suffix 门 (men) to the end. For example, the singular 我 (wǒ) meaning I becomes 我们 (wǒmen) for we, and 你 (nǐ) meaning you becomes 你们 (nǐmen). This suffix can also be applied to people in general, such as 学生 (xuésheng) for student. Additionally, notice that while he, she, and it—他, 她, and 它—all share the same pronunciation (tā), they are distinguished by different characters in writing. You will also find the polite form of you, 您 (nín), which is vital for showing respect to elders or teachers. Understanding these building blocks, alongside words like 名字 (míngzi) for name and 是 (shì) for to be, will allow you to start forming your very first introductions.