Lesson 1: Basic Greetings and Self-Introduction
Learn essential Mandarin greetings, introduce yourself, and master your first HSK characters with pinyin pronunciation
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Imagine arriving at a language exchange. You want to greet someone, learn their name and introduce yourself. By the end of this lesson, you can carry out that short conversation and recognize the characters that make it work.
We use simplified characters with Hanyu Pinyin, the Latin-letter system for writing Mandarin pronunciation. A character is a written unit; a word can contain more than one character. For example, 名字 (míngzi, name) is one word written with two characters.
This is a foundation lesson, not a complete HSK syllabus. For an exam, use the official Chinese Tests Service website to check the syllabus and arrangements for your particular test. Do not mix vocabulary totals from different HSK versions or proficiency standards.
1. Hear the syllable and its tone
Tone helps distinguish words. Start with four basic tone categories and the light neutral tone:
| Category | Pinyin example | Meaning | Pronunciation target |
|---|---|---|---|
| First | mā — 妈 | mom | high and level |
| Second | má — 麻 | hemp; numb | rising |
| Third | mǎ — 马 | horse | low; a full isolated form dips then rises |
| Fourth | mà — 骂 | scold | sharply falling |
| Neutral | ma — 吗 | yes/no question particle | short and light, with pitch influenced by its surroundings |
The neutral tone is not a long, flat fifth contour. In 妈妈 — māma, the second syllable is light in the pronunciation practiced here. In 谢谢 — xièxie, the first syllable falls and the second is light.
Third tone needs special care. Do not perform a large dip-and-rise on every third-tone syllable in a sentence: it often stays low in connected speech. In the familiar pair 你好 — nǐ hǎo, the first third tone is pronounced with a rise, approximately ní hǎo. We keep the dictionary tones nǐ hǎo in ordinary pinyin here. Longer strings of third tones depend on how the phrase is grouped; this pair is your starting example.
Tone marks sit over vowels: mā, má, mǎ, mà. Numbers are another notation: ma1, ma2, ma3, ma4, with ma5 or ma0 often used for neutral tone. Number notation is useful when a keyboard makes tone marks difficult.
Pinyin letters are sound instructions
English respellings are only rough aids. Use a speaker's recording as the target, not the English spelling of a syllable. The Yoyo Chinese pinyin chart provides sound examples to compare.
| Initial | Try this articulatory cue | Example |
|---|---|---|
| x | a soft hissing sound, with the tongue tip down near the lower front teeth and the tongue body raised forward | 谢谢 — xièxie |
| q | a forward tongue position like x, but begin with a brief closure and release with a puff of air | 七 — qī, seven |
| c | a “ts”-like release with a puff of air | 菜 — cài, dish/vegetable |
| zh | a brief closure and release with the tongue tip raised toward the area behind the tooth ridge; no strong puff | 中 — zhōng, middle |
| r | a voiced sound with the tongue tip raised/back; it is not the English letter name “r” or two sounds “r+j” | 人 — rén, person |
For zh, an English “j” can be a rough starting comparison, but Mandarin zh is normally voiceless and unaspirated; do not practice a prolonged English “jjjj.” For x, do not say the English “ks” sound. In xiè, the final ie includes a glide; listen to the whole syllable.
Try it: Listen, repeat, then record nǐ hǎo and xièxie. Check the first syllable's pitch and whether the second syllable in xièxie stays light. Reading pinyin alone cannot verify your pronunciation.
2. Choose a greeting for the situation
| Chinese | Pinyin | Use |
|---|---|---|
| 你 | nǐ | everyday you, singular |
| 您 | nín | respectful you, singular |
| 好 | hǎo | good/well |
| 你好 | nǐ hǎo | hello |
| 您好 | nín hǎo | hello with respectful address |
| 早上 | zǎoshang | morning, especially its earlier part |
| 早上好 | zǎoshang hǎo | good morning |
| 早 | zǎo | a short “Morning!” greeting |
| 大家好 | dàjiā hǎo | hello, everyone |
| 老师 | lǎoshī | teacher |
你好 literally combines “you” and “good,” but its everyday function is a greeting. It is not limited to close friends and is not automatically rude in a professional setting. 您好 adds respectful address; usage varies with the people and setting. When the exercise explicitly requests respectful 您, use it.
老师，您好！— Lǎoshī, nín hǎo! greets a teacher respectfully. The comma separates the person addressed from the greeting. 老师，你好！ is also common; it is not a grammatical error.
Use 早上好 in the morning. There is no universal deadline of exactly 8 or 9 a.m. 上午 — shàngwǔ also refers to the morning before noon, and 上午好 is another morning greeting. Later, 你好 remains useful. Learn the function before trying to assign a precise clock boundary to a greeting.
A greeting does not require a bow or any particular gesture. Follow the situation. Questions about age or relationships can feel personal; learning a language does not oblige you to ask or answer them.
Recognize a few components
In 你, the left component 亻 is the person component. In 好, notice 女 and 子. These visual components can help recognition. Calling them “two radicals of 好” is imprecise: a dictionary radical is an indexing component, not a name for every visible part.
You may use a personal memory story for a character, but do not treat an invented story as proof of its historical origin. In 您, spotting 心 at the bottom may help you remember the respectful pronoun without needing an etymology claim.
3. Introduce your name and identity
| Chinese | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 我 | wǒ | I/me |
| 叫 | jiào | be called; call |
| 名字 | míngzi | name |
| 什么 | shénme | what |
| 是 | shì | be, linking an identity or category |
| 学生 | xuésheng | student |
| 你们 | nǐmen | you, plural |
Use 我叫 + name:
我叫李明。— Wǒ jiào Lǐ Míng. — My name is Li Ming.
Use 我是 + identity:
我是学生。— Wǒ shì xuésheng. — I am a student.
我是李明 also identifies you as Li Ming. The difference is the construction: 叫 gives the name someone is called; 是 identifies someone. It is not a strict formal/informal contrast. Neither verb changes form for English “am/is/are.”
You can keep your own name: 我叫Sarah。— Wǒ jiào Sarah. You do not need to invent a Chinese name to take part.
In the conventional Chinese order 李明, 李 is the surname and 明 the given name. When people use names internationally, the displayed order can vary. Use the person's stated name and preferred form of address.
Ask for the missing information
你叫什么名字？— Nǐ jiào shénme míngzi? — What is your name?
The phrase 什么名字 means “what name.” It stays after 叫. The answer 我叫李明 supplies 李明 in the name slot: it replaces the whole “what name” phrase, not just 什么 while leaving 名字 after it.
An especially transparent pair is:
你叫什么？— Nǐ jiào shénme? — What are you called?
我叫李明。— Wǒ jiào Lǐ Míng. — I'm called Li Ming.
Question expressions usually remain where the requested information belongs. That position can be first when the question asks for the subject; it is not a rule that Chinese questions can never start with a question word.
Here are the question words encountered in the practice bank. Learn their meanings now; later lessons develop their patterns:
| Chinese | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 什么 | shénme | what |
| 谁 | shéi; also shuí | who |
| 哪里 | nǎli | where |
| 怎么 | zěnme | how |
| 为什么 | wèishénme | why |
| 几 | jǐ | how many, often when a relatively small answer is expected |
几 is not defined by a strict “under ten only” cutoff. In lesson 2, you will use it to ask about a family.
4. Ask a yes/no question, then return it
吗 — ma can turn a statement into a yes/no question:
你是学生。— Nǐ shì xuésheng. — You are a student.
你是学生吗？— Nǐ shì xuésheng ma? — Are you a student?
For this question, a useful answer is 是，我是学生。— Shì, wǒ shì xuésheng. — Yes, I am a student. The negative is 不是 — bù shì: “am/is not.” In connected speech, 不 before fourth-tone 是 is pronounced bú; we keep the base spelling bù in examples unless discussing the sound change.
Do not automatically add 吗 to 你叫什么名字？ It already asks for a name. Adding a question particle is not a universal requirement for every kind of question.
你好吗？— Nǐ hǎo ma? asks whether someone is well and is often translated “How are you?” It is a useful learning phrase and a real question about well-being, though it is not a routine greeting in every conversation.
我很好，谢谢。— Wǒ hěn hǎo, xièxie. — I'm well, thank you.
很 — hěn can mean “very,” but in a plain description it often carries little emphasis. So 我很好 can mean “I'm well” or “I'm very well,” depending on stress and context. 很 does not mean “is”: the adjective can itself describe the subject. For this basic description, use 我很好, rather than mechanically inserting 是 as in English. Other emphatic constructions with 是 exist; this is the simple pattern we are practicing.
Now return the question:
你呢？— Nǐ ne? — And you? / What about you?
呢 — ne lets the context supply the earlier question. After discussing names, 你呢？ asks about the other person's name; after discussing well-being, it asks how the other person is.
5. Have a complete first conversation
A: 你好！你叫什么名字？
Nǐ hǎo! Nǐ jiào shénme míngzi?
Hello! What's your name?
B: 我叫李明。你呢？
Wǒ jiào Lǐ Míng. Nǐ ne?
My name is Li Ming. And you?
A: 我叫王芳。我是学生。
Wǒ jiào Wáng Fāng. Wǒ shì xuésheng.
My name is Wang Fang. I'm a student.
B: 很高兴认识你！
Hěn gāoxìng rènshi nǐ!
Pleased to meet you!
高兴 — gāoxìng means happy/pleased, and 认识 — rènshi means know or become acquainted with. 很高兴认识你 is a useful complete phrase. 我很高兴 — Wǒ hěn gāoxìng says “I'm happy/very happy.”
When addressing several people, use 很高兴认识你们 — Hěn gāoxìng rènshi nǐmen. The suffix 们 — men forms the familiar pronoun plurals 我们 — wǒmen (we), 你们 — nǐmen (you) and 他们 — tāmen (they). Do not add 们 mechanically to every noun: Chinese nouns often express number without a plural ending.
Check yourself
- Greet a teacher using respectful 您.
- Introduce yourself using 叫.
- Ask whether your partner is a student using 吗.
- Respond “I'm well, thank you.”
- Greet a whole class.
- Explain why 什么名字 stays after 叫 in the name question.
Possible answers: 1. 老师，您好！; 2. 我叫 + your name。; 3. 你是学生吗？; 4. 我很好，谢谢。; 5. 大家好！; 6. it occupies the name slot after the verb, where the answer supplies a name.
Practice the conversation twice: once with pinyin visible, then with just the characters. Change the name and whether you are addressing one person or a group. Next, you will use these introductions to talk about family members and describe people.