Recently I started getting questions and comments from people concerned about whether or not it is ok to say "ni hao ma" in Chinese, and if ni hao ma is even 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 (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!)". 1) Nǐ hǎo (你好) vs. Nín hǎo (您好) Nín (您, you) is the polite form of nǐ (你, you). Instead of saying "nǐ hǎo" (你好, hello), one should say "nín hǎo" (您好, hello 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 xaCkEXz.

ni hao vs ni hao ma