您好

nín hǎo

A polite formal greeting used to say hello to someone, showing respect.

您好，请问我可以在这里坐吗？

Hello, may I sit here?

Etymology

It combines "您", the respectful form of the second-person pronoun "you", with "好", meaning good. It developed as a polite alternative to the casual greeting "你好" to express higher respect for the addressee.

Memory Aid

Break the word into two parts: "nín" = respectful you, "hǎo" = good, so "respectful good" = polite hello.

Collocations

您好吗您好先生您好女士

Synonyms

你好嗨

Antonyms

再见拜拜

Related Words

问候打招呼礼貌