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Which Mandarin greeting is the polite 'Hello' to use with an older person or a hotel manager?

Nín hǎo (您好) uses the respectful 'you'.

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  1. nǐ men hǎo (你们好)
  2. zǎo (早)
  3. nín hǎo (您好) ✔

Why: Nín (您) is the courteous form of nǐ (你), so nín hǎo shows respect. Nǐmen hǎo greets a group, and zǎo means good morning.

Huh, didn't know that: The character 您 is 你 with the heart character 心 under it.

The dad joke
Nín hǎo is hello with good manners built in. It is basically a greeting wearing a tie.
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References

Answer: nín hǎo (您好). Nín (您) is the courteous form of nǐ (你), so nín hǎo shows respect. Nǐmen hǎo greets a group, and zǎo means good morning.

  1. MDBG Chinese Dictionary (CC-CEDICT): 您好 www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?page=worddict&wdrst=0&wdqb=%E6%82%A8%E5%A5%BD
    hello (polite)
    Checked 2026-10-12.
  2. MDBG Chinese Dictionary (CC-CEDICT): 你 www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?page=worddict&wdrst=0&wdqb=%E4%BD%A0
    you (informal, as opposed to courteous 您)
    Checked 2026-10-12.

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