How do you say goodbye in Mandarin?

Today, we’re going to see 10 different ways to say “goodbye “in Mandarin. All these expressions you’ll discover here are very common and interesting to know. They each come with a little explanation so you can be sure you’re using the right goodbye in Chinese each time!

#1

再见

zài jiàn

Goodbye; See you

再见 is the most common and standard way to say goodbye in Mandarin. You can use this expression with everybody and in all sorts of situations. 再见 literally means “See you again”, as it’s composed of the character 再 zài, which means “again” and of the character见 jiàn “to see”. That being said, you can still use 再见 if you’re not planning on seeing the person ever again.

#2

拜拜

bái bái

Bye-bye

The most frequent and easy way to say goodbye in Mandarin is going to sound very familiar to you: it’s 拜拜, which means “bye bye” and is pronounced just like in English! It’s casual and informal, but don’t worry, almost all the people use it in China now. 拜拜 was first used in Taiwan, but you’ll hear it used everywhere that speaks Chinese now.
As the word  八 (8), pronounced bā  sounds close to “bye”, you’ll sometimes see 拜拜 written as 88 online. So if someone writes 88 to you, you know now what they mean!

See you soon: Using 见 to say goodbye in Chinese

The following ways to say goodbye all have something in common: they all use 见! As you saw before, 见 means “to see”. It’s therefore not surprising that it’s used a lot in expressions to say goodbye, especially when you plan on seeing the person you’re saying goodbye to again.

#3

一会儿见

yī huǐ er jiàn

see you later/in a while

#3 bis

回头见

huí tóu jiàn

see you later

 When you want to say “see you later”, two expressions you can use are:

• 一会儿见. Here, 一会儿 yīhuǐ er means “a little while”, so 一会儿见 very simply means “see you in a little while”.
• or 回头见.  回头 literally means “to turn one’s head around” and figurately means “later” so, combined with 见, 回头见 means “see you later”.

#4

明天见

míng tiān jiàn

see you tomorrow

When the day is over and you want to say “see you tomorrow” to your classmate or colleague, you can say 明天见！This expression is very easy to use in Chinese, and good to know when you want to say goodbye to someone till a specific date.

#4 bis

周一见

zhōu yī jiàn

see you on Monday

To say to someone “see you” at a specific date, all you need to do is follow this pattern:

[Specific Date] + 见

For example: If you put the date 周一 in front on 见, you get: 周一见 – See you on Monday, since 周一 is Monday.

#5再联系

zài lián xi

Let's catch up later/ let's stay in touch

When a conversation is suddenly broken up but you want to show you’ll stay in contact with someone, you can say 再联系. This indicates to the other person you desire to catch up with them later, and shows you want to stay in touch.  The expression is made up of the words:

• 再, which you saw above, and means “again

• 联系 – lián xi – means “contact, relation, in touch with”.

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#6

失陪了

shī péi le

Excuse me, I must leave

失陪了 is a very polite and formal way to say goodbye. It carries the meaning of “Excuse me, I must leave”. When you’re at a meeting or a party and you have to leave early, use 失陪了 to take your leave. It shows you have good manners in Chinese.

#7

我先告辞了

wǒ xiān gào cí

(Pardon me), I'll take my leave

Way #7 to say goodbye in Mandarin is a standard and very polite way to say goodbye. 我先告辞了 means: ” I’ll take my leave”, and nearly implies a “pardon me”. This expression is rather serious and mainly used in special situations. You normally use this expression in face-to-face conversations, especially when talking to someone with a higher social position or that is older in age than you, to show your respect. This expression was a lot more prevalent in the past, and was quite serious. Now, if you hear teenagers say that, they most likely are using this expression in a lighter and more casual manner.

Let’s break down the words in this expression:

• 我 wǒ – I, me, my

• 先 xiān – first. In Chinese, it’s very common to say “I’m leaving/going first” as a way to take your leave. Just a little something to keep in mind.

• 告辞 gào cí – “to take leave (of one’s host).

In short, this expression literally means “I’ll take leave first”. If you’re looking for a simpler way to show you want to take leave of your host, you can also say  我先走了 wǒ xiān zǒu le – I’m going first.

#8

后会有期

hòu huì yǒu qī

farewell

You may have heard 后会有期 before. This way to say goodbye is often used in movies, as it’s a little more dramatic than a simple “goodbye”. It means “farewell” or “we’ll meet again someday”. As you can guess, this is an expression to use in Chinese when two people know they won’t meet again easily once they part. You can also use this expression when you don’t know for sure when you’ll meet that person again.

#9

保重

bǎo zhòng

Take care

保重 means to take care. This is a great expression to use when someone is going away on a long journey or leaving far. To show you want to send them off well, you can say 保重 together with 一路顺风 yī lù shùn fēng “May the wind be with you”! With these two expressions, you’re wishing them a pleasant journey! What a nice way to say goodbye in Mandarin, don’t you think?

A less formal way to say to someone you want them to take care is  慢走 Mànzǒu Take care!. 慢走 literally means”to walk slowly”, and is used by hosts when guests are saying goodbye. Its a very Chinese way of seeing someone off.

#10

挂了啊

guà le a

I’m going to hang up

Since you already know how to start a phone conversation by saying 喂? wéi? Hello?, don’t you want to know also how to end a phone call? Ending a phone call in Chinese can be tricky, but here’s a simple way to end your conversation: 挂了啊 guà le a, I’m going to hang up. Here 啊a is only a particle word that adds a little emotion to what you’re saying. You can also shorten it to 挂了guà le.

Now that you know 10 different ways to say goodbye in Mandarin, you’re ready to end any conversation that ends your way! Isn’t that neat? All’s left is to learn how to say hello, and a few things to say in between, and you’re ready to chat away in Chinese. Practice each time you have to bid adieu to your friends! Do you use other expressions to say goodbye in Chinese? Share them with us below!

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As you know, being polite and thankful towards people will always bring you good things, especially if you make the effort to say them in their native language. Try these expressions to see!

谢谢 is one of the first words to learn in Chinese to say thank you. But did you know there are many more expressions to say thank you in Chinese? Let’s start with the basic ways to say thank you in Chinese and introduce 3 more ways to thank you in Chinese to you.

#1 Thank you in Chinese: 谢谢 – Thank you

Let’s start from the beginning. 谢谢 xiè xie thank you is the most used word to thank someone in Chinese.

As you can see, 谢谢 is a double syllable word. It can seem a bit hard to pronounce. To help you through your Chinese learning adventure, here’s a Nincha tip to say it like a native: think of a sound between /s/ and /sh/. You got it? Great, that’s how you should pronounce the “x” in 谢谢 (xiè xie) .
Try to say xiè xie now. Pay attention to the fact there’s a the neutral tone on the second syllable and your thank you in Chinese will be perfect.
You can also learn the word 谢谢 in Ninchanese if you have a look in the world 1.

When receiving food, gifts or anything else you’re feeling thankful for, you can definitely say 谢谢. Here’s an example:

我买了巧克力给你 Wǒ mǎile qiǎokèlì gěi nǐ I bought chocolate for you

谢谢 xiè xie thank you

It’s good to know that the Chinese don’t use 谢谢 as much as some other cultures do. That’s why you might not always hear them saying thanks. Don’t think it’s because they’re being impolite, it’s a cultural thing.
In China, people can feel uncomfortable when saying thank you because it puts distance between the speaker and the recipient, and that’s not something they want to do, especially if they’re close. Chinese people just don’t want to put distance between each other. Shortening social distance is their way of being polite .

Bonus uses of 谢谢:

If you’re texting or messaging someone and want to thank them, you can also use

duōxiè thanks a lot.

多谢 is mostly used in writing. But nowadays, people sometimes use it when speaking as well.

When meeting someone for the first time, talking to someone higher-ranked or older than you then you certainly want to be more formal when thanking them.

You can use 谢谢你 xiè xie nǐ thank you to be a little more formal but when talking someone hierarchically higher than you, it’s better to say 谢谢您 xiè xienín as 您 is the formal form of 你.

When someone offers you an awesome gift you can tell them:

谢谢你的礼物! Xièxie nǐ de lǐwù! Thank you for your gift!

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#2 Thank you in Chinese: 非常感谢你 – Thank you very much

Sometimes in life you’re truly grateful. ”感谢” ”gǎnxiè” ”to is a great verb to use for those times. It emphasizes on the emotions, the feeling you’re going through.
When someone has been very nice with you and you feel like you owe them something then you can express your feelings of gratitude by saying:

非常感谢你 fēi cháng gǎn xiè nǐ thank you very much.

Be careful, though, this sentence is formal, so don’t use it when receiving a present or food, for instance. Save for times when you’re feeling extremely grateful.

Here’s when you can use this expression, for example. Imagine a situation in which you have to take the train and are very late – I can feel your pain – and someone you don’t even know helps you get to the train station by calling and paying a taxi for you to make sure you make your train. This is what you must tell them:

非常感谢你的帮助 Fēicháng gǎnxiè nǐ de bāngzhù Thank you very much for your help

You’ll see a big smile on their face!

#3 Thank you in Chinese: 感激 – To be grateful

Another word used to say thank you in Chinese is 感激 gǎnjī to be grateful. It expresses a deeper gratitude than 谢谢 and 感谢. You use 感激 when you are grateful. If someone has helped you when you were at the end of your rope, for instance, you can tell them:

当我消沉的时候，你鼓励了我。对此我十分感激。 Dāng wǒ xiāochén de shíhòu, nǐ gǔlìle wǒ. Duì cǐ wǒ shífēn gǎnjī. I really appreciate that you helped lift my spirits when I was feeling low.

#4 Thank you in Chinese: 哪里哪里 – You’re too kind

The expression 哪里哪里 nǎlǐ nǎlǐ you’re too kind is something you can also use to say thank you in Chinese, but only when you are praised by the others. When Chinese people are being paid compliments, they tend to prefer to show humility and modesty.
So, they avoid saying thank you which might be seen as too direct and which would make them seem too confident. Therefore, instead of using 谢谢 to acknowledge the compliment, the Chinese would rather say 哪里哪里 to deflect the compliment (while secretly enjoying the praise).

For example:

If someone says:

你很漂亮 Nǐ hěn piàoliang You’re beautiful

A native would answer:

哪里哪里 nǎlǐ nǎlǐ you’re too kind

Now that you know how to thank people, when to thank someone and how to show your gratitude in every situation, you can easily immerse yourself in the Chinese society. +1 for your basic Chinese survival skills! But what if someone says thank you in Chinese to you? What can you answer them?

Bonus: 3 ways to say “You’re welcome”

– 不客气 bù kèqì you’re welcome is, as you can guess, the most used expression. It fits nearly every situation.

– 不用谢 bú yòng xiè don’t mention it. You can easily replace 不客气 with this expression. For instance, if you give someone something and they answer 谢谢, you can reply: 不用谢. You can even say ”不用客气” ”bú

– 小事一桩 xiǎo shì yī zhuāng it’s nothing. Watch out for this one, however, as it tends to be more informal. So you can use it with friends, family but certainly not your boss 😉

As you see, there are many ways to show you’re thankful in Chinese. Saying thank you is not only about showing you’re polite, it’ also about fitting in society. Once you master the four expressions you just learned here, you’ll be able of showing your gratitude and know how to say thank you in Chinese. These expressions will be very useful to you on a daily basis, we’re sure!

The next step for you is to use it and see what you get in return. Lots of smiles I guess. 🙂

For more daily useful Chinese expressions, you can check out our posts about saying yes in Chinese and saying sorry in Chinese as well as this awesome guide to 20 survival phrases.

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One day, you suddenly start seeing a new word or an expression pop up everywhere online or hear teenagers use it all the time and you don’t even know what it means yet. Chances are, you’ve encountered a catchphrase; a popular slang word or expression that everyone starts suddenly using to talk about a concept.

In China, new slang and catchphrases emerge at break-neck speed and become immediately immensely popular on Weibo and other online forums. So if you want to speak really modern Chinese, being familiar with Chinese catchphrases as well as the things you learn in class will help you a lot.

Nincha’s here to help though so don’t be worried, you’ll know all you need to know! Here we go!

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” I actually graduated from the University of Edinburgh with a MA in Chinese.
I’ve used Ninchanese daily, and it has helped me a lot!  “

 – Connor, Ninchanese User

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Chinese catchphrase #1 : It’s a Duang thing

“DUANG”

duāng

“boing,”  “ta-da!”

Our first must-know Chinese catchword is a word you’ve probably come across already, and not necessarily in a Chinese text. It was a big hit not only in China but also in some parts of the world (hello 9gag): DUANG.

Duang, this strange little word (pronounced: dwong) suddenly hit the Chinese Internet by storm and became viral throughout China. You can now hear people use it jokingly in the streets, on TV shows, everywhere!

This word doesn’t actually have a meaning, it is a modal word like “Oops”, “ta-da” or “boing!”, a mimetic word to show your excitement or to describe something that happens all of a sudden. A majority of Chinese netizens also seem to use it as an adjective before another word to emphasize it.

For instance,

他 duang 的一下摔倒了。

tā duāng de yī xià shuāi dǎo le. 

“Duang”, he fell down all of a sudden.

DUANG first appeared in a Jackie Chan interview. In the interview, to show how he felt about a shampoo advertisement, he used this word to explain how magical the shampoo could be. Just like magic, after DUANG a second your hair turns black again.

Now, if you google Duang, in addition to Jackie Chan’s face, you’ll see this everywhere:

Since Duang didn’t have a character associated with it in Chinese, netizens came up with this: It’s a combination of Jackie Chan’s name in Chinese + Duang written on top. ^^

Later on, out of nowhere, a netizen remixed this advertisement with the music of 庞麦郎 Pang Mai Lang’s “My sneaker” “我的滑板鞋” (wǒ de huá bǎn xié) – a spoof music that is unreasonably hot in China right now. In it, you hear “Duang” repeated over and over with a bunch of special effects. It’s really quite something. So let’s get duangggggg now!

Chinese slang #2: Tired like a dog

累成狗

leì chéng gǒu

tired like a dog

Nowadays in China, a lot of sayings are used to express how tired or bored we feel, but the most popular slang expression is this one: “累成狗” (leì chéng gǒu, tired like a dog).

This Chinese catchword works more or less like an adjective, and means “like a dog” (Adjective + 成狗). So you can add anything you want in the front, like 饿成狗 “hungry like a dog”; 热成狗 “hot like a dog”; 穷成狗 “poor like a dog”, anything you want. This slang expression works just like 热死了rè sǐ le “I am hot to death”. Both 成狗 and 死了 are used here after the adjective to add emphasis.

You might be wondering why a dog? I didn’t find the answer as to how this all started, but just picture a tired little puppy face with its little tongue hanging out of its mouth, lying on the ground. I think it perfectly sums up our feeling.

Chinese catchphrase #3:  Moe-moe cutie

萌萌哒

méng méng da  

cutie-pie

I feel so cute ~~ – picture credit: Duitang

萌萌哒  is an expression influenced by the Japanese Manga.

“萌” (méng) literally means “cute”, and “哒” (da) is a modal particle. The Chinese like to use a word twice to add emphasis to it, such as:

好好吃 hǎohǎochī. It taste good

好好玩 hǎohǎowán. It’s funny.

That’s why here “萌萌” actually means the same as “萌”. It is generally used to describe someone who is especially cute and lovely. This expression originated on 豆瓣 Douban, a very popular social website used by Chinese teenagers, where people can exchange their thoughts about the books they read, movies, music, events, blogs and other contents. On Douban, one day a netizen posted “Today I forgot to take my medicine and I feel so cute.”

今天出来没吃药<(￣▽￣)>感觉整个人都萌萌哒p(#￣▽￣#)o

jīn tiān chū lái méi chī yào, gǎn jué zhěng gè rén dōu méng méng da

Today I forgot to take my medicine and I feel so cute.

You can use this word to express someone is really cute or sometimes you can use it to make fun of yourself. Just for fun~.

Chinese slang#4:  么么哒 mua~

么么哒

momoda

kiss kiss

么么哒 shares the same pattern as 萌萌哒 (words reduplication) and is now used by teenagers and also adults in China to express one’s love and affection when they text a message or chat online. It is not only used between lovers but also with family and friends. It is a cute mimetic word of a kissing sound, just like mua~ Teenagers always use this symbol as a kiss too: >3333333

Maybe you’ll shocked by this photo, an ugly girl with a running nose, seriously? Haha, the Chinese now like this mock-picture, this face is very popular on the internet. Send a kiss to your lovers like this? So funny!

Chinese catchphrase #5:  Rich and bitch

有钱就是任性

yǒu qián jiù shì rèn xìng 

have money, can act however I want

有钱就是任性 is a saying that says “you’re rich so you can do whatever you want and bitch as much as you want”.

This slang expression originates from a real event: One day in April 2014, Mr. Liu spent 1760 yuan online to buy a health care product. Soon after, he got a strange call persuading him to buy other drugs for the first product to be effective. In the following four months, Mr. Liu sent about 540,000 yuan to the fraud scheme. He said that he’d figured out after dishing out 70 000 RMB that it was a scam but kept going. “I just wanted to see how much could they take from me!”, said Mr. Liu. Everyone was amazed by his words and absurb rich-guy behavior. He must be really rich, huh? So that’s how the expression 有钱就是任性 became popular.

Next time you want to show off your wealth, but not exactly in Mr Liu’s way, you can say:

Chinese Internet slang #6: Crazy or Drunk?

也是醉了！

yě shì zuì le 

Are you kidding me? Have I become crazy?

The literal meaning of this expression is: being drunk. But now, it is used in Chinese to show how helpless one feels, and in situations where one has nothing to say or doesn’t understand. The slang meaning is therefore closer to “Are you kidding me?!” or “Have I become crazy?!”

Chinese catchphrase #7:  You can you up

你行你上

nǐ xíng nǐ shàng

If you can do it, do it.

你行你上 literally means “you can you up”. As a slang expression, it means “if you can, do it , go ahead, if not please shut up.” It’s especially used about people who like to criticize others, especially when the person who’s doing the criticizing is not capable of doing the same thing as you.

Chinese buzzword #8:  No zuo no die

不作不死

bù zuō bù sǐ

Don’t do silly things, don’t die

作 “zuō” in Chinese means to “act silly or daring”. This saying means that if you don’t do something silly, you won’t end up with bad consequences.

Look at this conversation and you’ll understand:

KEEP CALM AND NO ZUO NO DIE – picture credit: keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk

Chinese catchphrase #9  Goddesses and She-males

女神和女汉子

nǚ shén hé nǚ hàn zi

Goddesses and masculine women

我美吗？ Am I beautiful? These two muscular fine ladies ask.

Needless to say, we all know what a goddess is, like Audrey Hepburn, so beautiful and elegant that everyone admires her. In Chinese, we call a woman who is incredibly beautiful and shinning a goddess 女神nǚ shén.

On the other side, what’s the opposite of a goddess? There is another group of girls that exist in our daily life; they act carelessly and sloppily, they always have a generous personality and are forthright by nature. Some are even more manly then men. In that case, these men-like women in Chinese are called 女汉子(nǚ hàn zi), masculine women or manly girls. Here 汉子 hànzi means man; it is the formal way to say  男人 (nán rén) ‘man’. 女汉子usually carries a positive meaning and is used to describe an independent girl who is not afraid of hardships.

Mandarin slang #10:  Have yourself a loneliness party

寂寞党

jì mò dǎng

寂寞党 is a popular saying that started when one day, a netizen posted a photo of him eating noodles, with the accompanying sentence: “哥吃的不是面，是寂寞”(gē chī de bú shì miàn shì jì mò) which means “What I am eating is not noodles, it’s loneliness.” Since then, this kind of saying has been very fashionable. Everyone think it’s funny, cool and even a little ironic. Actually, this expression doesn’t have a special meaning. Here 党 means a group of person. 寂寞jìmò means loneliness. You can use this expression when you feel lonely or bad or just for fun.

All right, there you have it: 10 funny catchwords that are really popular now in China. So next time when you see some strange expressions in forums or chat with your Chinese friends, you won’t be shocked and you can use them whenever you want. Want to be cooler and fashionable in Chinese, just use these catchwords Nincha just taught you! Just remember to not be fooled by their literal meaning; sometimes they mean nothing and are used just for fun, you know, it’s a “duang” thing! So now you know, the Chinese are really creative with their language and everything is possible!

么么哒!

Yanjie and 

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Why’s that? Well, the Chinese don’t exactly use the fist pump the same way Westerners do! Click through to learn how to use it in China!

A Victory gesture

In the West, the fist bump means “Yes! Success!” “Victory!” and is truly a celebratory moment. There are countless excellent victorious fist pump moments:

or this one here:

Fist bump of support

In China however, the fist pump means 加油 Jiā yòu! 加油 is used to cheer someone on. So this fist bump conveys support and encouragement. A “You can do it” of sorts. If you’re hanging with Chinese people, you’ll see doing it regularly. It’s pretty commom for them to encourage themself or their friends.

And here’s Aaron Yan, a famous Taiwanese model/actor/singer cheering you on:

Which version of the fist pump do you like best?

Odds are you won’t confuse these two uses of the fist pump, as they clearly aren’t used in the same context. If you look closely to the defnition of 加油 Jiā yòu , it can also mean to accelerate. So really, the meaning is different and it used at different moment! It’s really funny to see how we are using it at the Nincha Team, so litteraly we are doing it all the time; when we xant to encouratge ourself, encourage one of our team member or when we did something good or when someone dis something good.

But now you know how to silently show support to your Chinese friends!

And 加油! to you all for this new lunar year!

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Food Mnemonics in Chinese

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