New Members sfonseka Posted May 23, 2016 at 04:57 AM New Members Report Share Posted May 23, 2016 at 04:57 AM I am a beginning Mandarin language learner and am wondering about beginning a conversation. Is it appropriate to begin a conversation with both Ni hao and Ni hao ma, or is it redundent. Example:A: Ni hao. Ni hao ma?B: Hen hao. Xiexie. Ni na?.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
li3wei1 Posted May 23, 2016 at 02:15 PM Report Share Posted May 23, 2016 at 02:15 PM They mean the same thing. It's like saying "Hi, Hello". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gharial Posted May 23, 2016 at 11:48 PM Report Share Posted May 23, 2016 at 11:48 PM I think it's a bit strange for person A to say both "Ni hao. Ni hao ma?" in the same breath and utterance. Use one or the other (as a simple greeting versus a literal question, eliciting a Ni hao! versus as you say Hen hao, ni ne? or similar respectively), or something that at least has a bit more variety (e.g. using 嘿 and/or somebody's name [if known] as an attention-getter or salutation before saying 你好[吗] or whatever). For what it's worth, I wouldn't call this stuff grammar, but rather, more the realm of Conversation Analysis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Members Hailyyang Posted May 24, 2016 at 10:20 AM New Members Report Share Posted May 24, 2016 at 10:20 AM It's a little weird to say Ni hao ma after Ni hao. In Chinese, Ni hao is like Hello. We just need to repeat Ni hao. If someone asks you Ni hao ma, we have to say who hen hao, xiexie! It's a polite response. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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