oGsBumder • 國語 • 5 yr. ago. To be honest Chinese people never say "ni hao ma", regardless of the formality of the situation. If you want to ask how someone is, it's more natural in informal situations to say 怎么样 (zen me yang) although this still isn't commonly said by Chinese people amongst themselves. "Ni hao" meaning "hello" is Adding the question particle (character) 吗 (ma) turns the statement "you well" 你好 (ni hao) into a question "(are) you well?" (ni hao ma). A few points: Both 你好 (ni hao) and 你好吗？ (ni hao ma) are acceptable ways of saying "hello" in Chinese. 你好 (ni hao) is a statement literally meaning "you well/good", a way 82.6% of people voted for "nǐ hǎo ma". (38 out of 46 people) 17.4% of people voted for "ní hǎo ma". (8 out of 46 people) If you have learnt about the Chinese tones, you would probably know that "ni 你" is a third tone character and "hao 好" is also a third tone character. ma is a question word~"ni hao ma"is like that u r asking someone whether he is good or not ~so， we often use it to greet someone who you long time no see~ "ni hao a " is just a greeting,no questions to ask so we use it more in our daily greeting. June 13, 2012. 1. If you ask how someone is, you turn the greeting into a question by adding the question word ma, you say Ni hao ma. More formal greetings include: Ni zao! A morning greeting. Zao! A morning (Ni hao!) 你好! It means "Hi!", "How do you do?", "Hello!" It is an everyday greeting and is used at any time, on any occasion and by a person of any social status. The reply should also be "你 好! (Ni hao!)". We encourage children to learn this simple Mandarin song with us! Ni Hao = HelloNi Hao Ma = How are you?Da Jia Hao = Hello Everyone----- CoVjN.

ni hao vs ni hao ma