Formal Chinese VS Informal Chinese

2021-02-16 MandarinHouseSchools美和漢語

你好!Nǐ hǎo! -Informal

Example:

你好!好久不見。你怎麼樣?

Nǐ hǎo! Hǎojiǔ bú jiàn. Nǐ zěnme yàng?

您好!Nín hǎo! - Formal

Example:

您好! 我先介紹一下我的相關信息。

Nín hǎo! Wǒ xiānjièshào yíxià wǒ de xiāngguān xìnxī.

很高興認識你!Hěn gāoxìng rènshi nǐ! - Formal

幸會Xìnghuì - More formal

你姓什麼?Nǐ xìng shénme? - Informal

您貴姓?Nín guì xìng? - Formal

爸媽Bàmā - Informal

我和爸媽才到爺爺家裡。

Wǒ hé bà mā cái dào yéye jiā li.

My parents and I just arrived at my grandfather's house.

父母Fùmǔ - Formal

他還和父母住在一起。

Tā hái hé fùmǔ zhùzài yìqǐ.

He still lives with his parents.

If you are trying to get someone's attention, interrupt someone, ask a question, or just pass through a line while bumping into people, use these phrases to show your politeness. Start off any inquiry or request with either phrase below.

打擾一下Dǎrǎo yīxià  -Informal

請問Qǐngwèn- Formal

勞駕Láojià- Very Formal

Example:  

請問,到郵局怎麼走?

Qǐngwèn, dào yóujú zěnme zǒu?

Excuse me, do you know how to get to the post office?

If you want to address any man in China as Mister or Sir, adding 「先生 (xiānsheng)」 behind their name is one way of using this honorific title, or you simple address the person solely as 「先生 (xiānsheng)」.

To address a woman as Miss, lady, or madam, 小姐 (xiǎojiě) is the first word that is thought of for this translation, however using 「女士 (nǚshì)」 to address a woman as 「Miss」 is better suggested.

Some informal language in Mandarin are the result of contracted words and sentences, or the full concept of something reduced to a short phrase, adjective, or noun. There are many kinds of contractions used in online internet slang as well as for written and spoken mandarin.

Examples:

白富美(báifùměi) refers to girls who are young, pretty, rich and fair-skin.

老司機 (lǎo sī jī) refers to someone who is very experienced or good at a certain field.

醬紫 (jiàngzǐ) is used instead of 這樣子 (zhèyàngzi). It's shorter, easier to pronounce and adds an element of youth. It's a modern example of spoken Mandarin.

宅男 (zháinán) refers to men who tend to stay at home instead of hanging out or being social.

宅女 (zháinán) refers to women who tend to stay at home instead of hanging out or being social.

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