nǐ hǎo ma?

Are you well?

Breakdown of nǐ hǎo ma?

• 你nǐ: you
• 吗ma: question particle
• 好hǎo: well

Questions & Answers about nǐ hǎo ma?

How do I pronounce 你好吗 naturally? Are there tone changes?

Pinyin: nǐ hǎo ma. Because 你 (3rd tone) is followed by 好 (3rd tone), 3rd‑tone sandhi turns 你 into a 2nd tone. So you actually say ní hǎo ma. 吗 is neutral tone (light, short). Overall: ní (rising) hǎo (low/dipping, often just low) ma (light).

Is 你好吗 common in real life?

It’s grammatical but sounds textbook as a greeting. Native speakers more often say:

• For “hello”: 你好 / 您好.
• To ask about someone’s state: 最近怎么样？ / 你最近还好吗？ / 还好吧？. “你好吗？” may sound formal or foreign unless you really mean to check on someone’s well‑being.

What does 吗 do here?

吗 is a yes/no question particle. Add it to the end of a statement to turn it into a polar question:

• 你忙。= You are busy.
• 你忙吗？= Are you busy? It isn’t used in who/what/where questions (those use question words like 谁/什么/哪儿).

Why is there no verb “to be”? Shouldn’t it be 你是好吗?

In Chinese, many adjectives act like verbs (“stative verbs”). You don’t use 是 before an adjective. So:

• Correct: 你好吗？
• Incorrect: 你是好吗？ Use 是 with nouns: 你是老师吗？ (Are you a teacher?)

How should I respond naturally?

Common replies:

• Textbook: 我很好，谢谢。你呢？
• Everyday: 还好/还可以/还行, 不错, 马马虎虎, 不太好, 挺累的. Add 你呢？ to ask back.

What’s the difference between 你好 and 你好吗?

你好 is a set greeting (“hello”).
你好吗？ literally asks about well‑being; as a greeting it’s less common and can feel formal/stiff.

How is 吗 pronounced and what about intonation?

吗 is neutral tone “ma” (no tone mark), pronounced lightly. Yes/no questions in Mandarin don’t require a big rising intonation like English; keep the lexical tones and end fairly level or slightly falling: ní hǎo ma.

When would I use the polite 您? Is 您好吗 okay?

您 is the polite “you” (to elders, teachers, customers). Common greeting: 您好 (nín hǎo). 您好吗？ is grammatical but can feel formal/old‑fashioned; more natural care-taking forms: 您最近还好吗？ / 身体好吗？

Should there be spaces between the characters?

Standard Chinese writing has no spaces: 你好吗？ Learner texts may add spaces to show word boundaries. The question mark is the same as in English.

How do I ask a group “How are you?”

Use plural “you”: 你们好吗？
More natural alternatives: 你们最近怎么样？
For a group greeting: 大家好 (“hello, everyone”).

Can I just say 好吗? Does it mean the same thing?

On its own, 好吗？ usually means “Is that okay?” after a suggestion (我们六点见，好吗？). It doesn’t normally mean “Are you well?” unless context makes it clear.

Is there another way to form this kind of yes/no question?

Yes, the A‑not‑A pattern: 你好不好？ = “Are you well (or not)?”
Other examples: 你累不累？ 你忙不忙？ It’s very natural in speech.

Where does 很 fit with adjectives? Could I say 你很好吗?

In statements, adjectives often take a degree word like 很: 我很好.
In yes/no questions, you normally ask 你好吗？ or 你好不好？ Saying 你很好吗？ is unusual and can sound like skeptical surprise (“Oh, you’re very well, are you?”).

Can I use the same pattern with other adjectives?

Yes: Subject + Adjective + 吗

• 你累吗？ (Are you tired?)
• 他忙吗？ (Is he busy?)
• 天气热吗？ (Is the weather hot?)

What’s the traditional character for 吗?

Traditional is 嗎. Usage and pronunciation are the same. Mainland uses simplified 吗; Taiwan/HK use 嗎.