Small talk with Chinese friends: Mandarin phrases with pinyin
You run into a Chinese friend, Li Ming, on the street in Shanghai. You stop to chat for a moment.
How the conversation starts
李明 (Li Ming) · your Chinese friend
Greet a Chinese friend and make small talk
What you do
- Greet your friend and ask how they are
- Ask if they're busy
- Say goodbye
What to say
- 你好！Nǐ hǎo!Hello!
- 最近怎么样？Zuìjìn zěnmeyàng?How have you been?
- 挺好的。Tǐng hǎo de.Pretty good.
- 最近忙吗？Zuìjìn máng ma?Busy lately?
- 下次见！Xià cì jiàn!See you next time!
Small talk with Chinese friends
You run into a Chinese friend, 小王 (Xiao Wang), at a casual get-together. He has just started a new job; you have been busy learning Chinese. Catch up for a minute, then say goodbye.
What you do
- Greet your friend and ask how they are
- Say what you have been doing recently
- End the conversation politely
What to say
- 你好！好久不见。Nǐ hǎo! Hǎojiǔ bú jiàn.Hi! Long time no see.
4 more sentences in this lesson, in the app.
Catching up: a compliment and a personal question
You work at a foreign company in Shanghai and have been preparing for the HSK 4 exam in your spare time. You run into your friend 小王 (Xiao Wang), who started a new job last month. In China friends often praise your Chinese (answer modestly) and may ask personal things like your salary, kindly meant; you'd rather not say.
What you do
- Greet him and say what you've been doing lately
- He praises your Chinese: answer modestly
- He asks about your salary: dodge it with a smile
What to say
- 好久不见！我最近一直在准备HSK考试。Hǎojiǔ bú jiàn! Wǒ zuìjìn yìzhí zài zhǔnbèi HSK kǎoshì.Long time no see! I've been preparing for the HSK exam lately.
4 more sentences in this lesson, in the app.
Now say it out loud
In Kaiko, 李明 (Li Ming) answers you out loud in Chinese, and a coach corrects you as you go.