The Most Popular Ways to Ask How Are You in Chinese

When you want to find out how everything is going with your friend, the first question that comes to your mind must be “how are you?”. In China, friendship is treated as an extremely important cultural element and most Chinese people are ready to give a hand when their friends need help. Hence, the question “how are you?” serves as a “bridge” in mutual communication. In this article, you will have the opportunity to learn five questions that can be used to ask “how are you?” in Chinese.

1. Nǐ hǎo ma?

你好吗?
Nǐ hǎo ma?
How are you?
(lit.) Are you good?

The literal meaning of this question is “Are you good?”, and it’s the most basic way for people to ask “how are you?” in Chinese. In addition, it’s also relatively easy for Chinese learners to understand the logic behind this question. In terms of Chinese learning, what is important about this question is that “sentence + 吗 ma?” is used to ask yes-no questions.

EXAMPLE:

你喜欢中国吗?
Nǐ xǐhuān zhōng guó ma?
Do you like China?

2. Nǐ zěnmeyàng?

你怎么样?
Nǐ zěnmeyàng?
How are you?/How is it going?

This question is the standard way to ask “how are you?” in Chinese as the structure “noun + 怎么样 zěnmeyàng” means “how is……?”. Compared with 你好吗? (nǐ hǎo ma?), more Chinese people tend to ask this question when they would like to know how everything is going with their friends. Meanwhile, let’s take a look at the following example with the use of “noun + 怎么样 zěn me yàng”.

EXAMPLE:

中国菜怎么样?
Zhōngguó cài zěnmeyàng?
How is Chinese food? / What do you think about Chinese food?

3. Zuìjìn hái hǎo ma?

最近还好吗?
Zuìjìn hái hǎo ma?
How have you been recently?

最近 (zuìjìn) means “recently”, and 还 (hái) means “still”. Therefore, this question can be literally translated as “Have you still been good recently?”. Chinese people like asking this question to start a conversation if they haven’t seen their friends for a while.

4. Zuìjìn zài máng shénme?

最近在忙什么?
Zuìjìn zài máng shénme?
What have you been busy with recently?

People in China have got used to working in fast-paced working environments and what most of them care about is if there would be a chance for them to get promoted. Talking about work has become an inalienable part of Chinese people’s daily lives in that it’s even a popular topic during a joyful get-together on the weekend. Consequently, Chinese people like to find out what their friends have been doing as a way to show that they care about their friends. In this question, 忙 (máng) means “busy”, and 你在忙什么? (nǐ zài máng shénme?) means “What are you busy with?”.

5. Nǐ chī le ma?

你吃了吗?
Nǐ chī le ma?
Have you eaten?

Believe it or not, this question is considered equivalent to “how are you?” in Chinese culture and it can often be heard after lunch breaks. As a matter of fact, Chinese people don’t really want to know if their friends have finished their lunch or dinner. It’s just how people in China “unconsciously” ask “how are you?”, and they don’t really expect to hear a detailed answer as to what you ate. Meanwhile, this question implicitly reflects the fact that the food culture plays a tremendous role in Chinese people’s lives.

To find out more interesting and useful Chinese vocabulary, check out one of our blog posts 5 Ways to Eat in Chinese: Takeouts, Dine-in and More