你好吗 How Are You in Chinese

今天jīntiān早上zǎoshang，我wǒ在zài学校xuéxiào看见kànjiàn朋友péngyou小美Xiǎoměi。

This morning, I see my friend Xiaomei at school.

我wǒ问wèn她tā：“你好nǐ hǎo吗ma？”

I ask her, "How are you?"

小美Xiǎoměi看了看kànlekàn我wǒ，说shuō：“我wǒ很hěn好hǎo，你nǐ呢ne？”

Xiaomei looks at me and says, "I'm very good, and you?"

我wǒ说shuō：“我wǒ也yě很hěn好hǎo，谢谢xièxie。”

I say, "I'm very good too, thank you."

小美Xiǎoměi说shuō：“我们wǒmen一起yìqǐ去qù喝茶hē chá，好hǎo吗ma？”

Xiaomei says, "Let's go drink tea together, OK?"

我wǒ说shuō：“好hǎo！”我们wǒmen一起yìqǐ去qù喝茶hē chá了le。

I say, "Sure!" We go drink tea together.

🔊 Audio uses your device's Chinese voice for now — teacher recordings are coming. Tap any word to see its meaning.

Key words 生词

你好nǐ hǎohello

好hǎogood

吗ma(question particle)

呢ne(question particle)

谢谢xièxiethank you

一起yìqǐtogether

你好吗？— asking how someone is

Add 吗 after 你好 to ask how the other person is doing.

你好吗？— How are you?

呢 — asking the same question back

After answering, add 呢 to a pronoun to ask "what about ...?" without repeating the whole question.

我很好，你呢？— I'm good, and you?

…，好吗？— a yes/no tag question

Adding 好吗 to the end of a suggestion turns it into a question asking if the other person agrees.

我们一起去喝茶，好吗？— Let's go get tea together, OK?

1. What does 呢 mean in "我很好，你呢？"?

2. What do the narrator and Xiaomei do at the end of the story?

3. What does 好吗 mean at the end of a suggestion?

After this reading

I'm Fei, and I teach Mandarin one-on-one on Preply. Bring this text to a trial lesson — we'll fix your tones and turn it into a real conversation.