Nice to meet/see you.

[NinjaTurtle]

I have a question about these two greetings:

 

A. Nice to meet you.

B. Nice to see you.

 

A indicates a first-time meeting whereas B indicates subsequent meetings.

 

I know 很高兴认识你。but I don’t know if it is A or B.

 

How to say A and B? Or are they the same in Chinese?

 

[abcdefg]

5 hours ago, NinjaTurtle said:

How to say A and B? Or are they the same in Chinese?

 

Yes. Don't overthink it. This is not a situation demanding semantic precision,  

[NinjaTurtle]

Thanks

[imron]

I don't think they are the same.  I would not say 很高兴认识你 to someone I already know just to tell them it was nice to see them.  That being said, I probably wouldn't say 很高兴认识你 to someone I just met either, unless maybe they had just helped me or done me a huge favour and I was legitimately and seriously pleased that I had met them, rather than just exchanging pleasantries.  Often a simple, 你好,你好 is enough.

[Jim]

A slightly comedy 幸会 works for the first one in some circumstances as it's so old-fashioned.

[Beelzebro]

5 hours ago, imron said:

I don't think they are the same.  I would not say 很高兴认识你 to someone I already know just to tell them it was nice to see them.  That being said, I probably wouldn't say 很高兴认识你 to someone I just met either, unless maybe they had just helped me or done me a huge favour and I was legitimately and seriously pleased that I had met them, rather than just exchanging pleasantries.  Often a simple, 你好,你好 is enough.

 

Is there really nothing else you can say? Saying only 你好 feels weird to me but I also agree that 很高兴认识你 isn't suitable in most situations. As a result, I tend to stand awkwardly or just try to think of some random question to ask the person. It feels very odd to not have an equivalent pleasantry like "good seeing you" or "nice to meet you" for casual situations.

[roddy]

1 hour ago, Jim said:

A slightly comedy 幸会 works for the first one in some circumstances as it's so old-fashioned.

久仰！

[Lu]

I really like 久仰 and treasure the rare opportunities that I get to use it.

 

If you're happy to see someone you already know, I think 高兴见到你 would work, but 你好, delivered with a happy face, is also fine. 高兴认识你 is only for people you have just met.

[imron]

1 hour ago, Beelzebro said:

Is there really nothing else you can say?

There are plenty of things you can say, but whether that's what Chinese people commonly say to each other when they first meet is another matter.  A double 你好 is very common.  Be interested in hearing what some native speakers think is appropriate.  Calling @Publius...

[Dawei3]

As Lu noted, 高兴见到你 works.  You can also say 很高兴和你见面。

 

Also, if you've met a person on-line and will meet them in person for the 1st time, you can write to them beforehand "很期待和你见面."  (i.e., the equivalent of saying "I'm looking to meeting you in person).  For someone you already have met in person,  很期待和你见面 can also mean "I'm looking forward to seeing you."

 

To Ninja's question as to whether A & B are the same:  When speaking English, it's common for Chinese friends to say to "it's nice to meet you" even though they may have known you for a long time.  It's because 见到/见面 is used after you meet the 1st time.  (i.e., the literal translation of "见" as "meet" doesn't fully reflect its use).  In contrast, 认识 is just for the first meeting.

 

I agree with Imron's point about not casually using 很高兴认识你.  E.g., I wouldn't say it to a waiter unless they were particularly helpful/friendly and I would likely see them again.  In contrast,  I often meet people in casual business settings or friends of friends and often the extra bit of warmth  of "很高兴认识你" is appropriate, particularly since I'll likely see them again in the future. 

 

 

[NinjaTurtle]

3 hours ago, Dawei3 said:

To Ninja's question as to whether A & B are the same: 

 

Dawei, thanks for your help. So this is what I have.

 

A. Nice to meet you.    
很高兴认识你。

 

B. Nice to see you.    
高兴见到你。
很高兴和你见面。

 

[abcdefg]

This is another one of those situations where one should not try to just translate things from English for use in Chinese conversation.

 

Instead of asking, "How do I say this English expression in Chinese?" It's better to ask, "In China, what should I say in a circumstance like this?" Sometimes even the most obvious or common expressions in one's native language don't have translations that would really be used by native speakers of Chinese. 

 

I realize it's a digression, but I discovered the same thing when trying to learn a little bit of one of Yunnan's minority languages some time back. Asked a friend whose first language is Hani 哈尼语  how to just say 你好。(We were speaking standard Chinese.)

 

Me: How do you usually say 'hello?' 哈尼族怎么说你好？

Her: We don't say that. 我们没有这样的说法。

Me: What do you use as a greeting?

Her: Depends on the specifics of the situation. Is the speaker the one who is arriving or is the speaker already there and greeting someone else who just showed up? What is the age of the two people? What is their social status or rank? Many factors. 

Me: Can you give me some examples?

Her: 哦，你来了 or 哦，你回来了。

...and so on 

[imron]

3 hours ago, abcdefg said:

It's better to ask, "In China, what should I say in a circumstance like this?" 

Absolutely spot on.

[Dawei3]

Ninja, Yes. 

 

Also, I just learned another variant of “looking forward to meeting you in person.”  It was from someone I know only via Wechat and I’ll see him for the first time in August. He wrote:  期盼与你见面. 

 

This is is the first time I’ve seen 期盼与你见面 , so I don’t in which other situations it can be used. 

[Tomsima]

Not enough love for 回來了 here!

[Dawei3]

I've been talking with more friends about this and as would be expected, there are some differences of opinions. 

 

However, they all noted that 见面 is used for the future (i.e., I'm looking forward to seeing you - 很期待和你见面.). 

 

For the present tense/situation:  they said that while 见面 can be used when you see a person you already know (很高兴和你见面), it's more formal  than 见到 and is not as commonly used in this way.

 

In contrast, 见到 is used in the present, i.e., "It's nice to see you."  很高兴见到你  (but don't use 见到 in the future sense).

 

(I struggle to make my posts understandable; present/future tense seemed like the best way to  describe this......) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[abcdefg]

@Dave1 -- Massive input and massive output will rub the rough corners off of issues like this. 

 

What I mean is make a special point of saying or writing it to Chinese friends or acquaintances 20 or 30 times every day for a few weeks. Do it until they are sick of it and until you can barely stand it yourself. Be unrelenting, even obnoxious. It will eventually become a joke. "Look out, here comes Dave with his new word for the week, we had better hide, haha!"

 

Pay attention to how they correct you. Pay close attention to how they greet you in similar situations. Imitate them; become like a parrot. Pretend you are a small child learning  how to speak for the first time. Plenty of trial and error. That's a better method for stuff like this than carefully-learned adult-type linguistic analysis or statistical surveys or scholarly expert opinions.

 

Don't worry about trying to "absolutely nail it" as some sort of abstraction or logical template. Just use it a whole, whole lot and listen to how others (native speakers) correct you. it will eventually smooth out and sound right. With time it will become natural, or nearly so. 

 

 

[NinjaTurtle]

13 hours ago, abcdefg said:

Pay close attention to how they greet you in similar situations. Imitate them; become like a parrot. 

 

I agree that I want to hear what Chinese people actually say. Kind of like finding out how Chinese people would greet someone with something like, "Whazzup?"

[abcdefg]

7 hours ago, NinjaTurtle said:

I agree that I want to hear what Chinese people actually say. Kind of like finding out how Chinese people would greet someone with something like, "Whazzup?"

 

Yes, exactly! Well said.