Hanzi Sheets
How to write 你好吗 — "How Are You" in Chinese
你好吗 (nǐ hǎo ma) is how you say "how are you" in Chinese. 你好 plus the question particle 吗 — the textbook check-in. Below is each character with its pinyin and meaning, plus a free tracing worksheet you can print in seconds.
你好吗 character by character
| Character | Pinyin | Meaning in this phrase |
|---|---|---|
| 你 | nǐ | you |
| 好 | hǎo | good; well |
| 吗 | ma | (yes/no question particle) |
| 你好吗 | nǐ hǎo ma | how are you |
Using 你好吗
Adding the question particle 吗 (ma) to 你好 turns the greeting into a question: 你好吗 — “are you well?”. The expected answer is 我很好 (“I'm fine”), often followed by 你呢？ (“and you?”).
A classroom secret worth knowing: native speakers rarely use 你好吗 with people they see every day; it fits reunions — greeting a friend you have not seen in months. In Traditional Chinese it is 你好嗎; only 吗 changes, to 嗎. Kids learning the question pattern can swap in other endings: 你累吗？(are you tired?), 你饿吗？(are you hungry?).
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FAQ
How do you answer 你好吗?
我很好 (wǒ hěn hǎo, “I'm fine”), then return the question with 你呢？(“and you?”). If things are just okay: 还行 (hái xíng, “alright”).
Do native speakers really say 你好吗?
Mostly to people they have not seen for a while. For everyday check-ins, native speakers ask concrete questions like 吃了吗 (“have you eaten?”) — but 你好吗 remains the learner's all-purpose tool.
How is 你好吗 written in Traditional Chinese?
你好嗎 — only the question particle changes: 吗→嗎.