你好

níhǎo

Hello

Sounds roughly like nee how — but the first syllable rises in real speech

As spoken

Written nǐ hǎoSaid

níhǎo

Two 3rd tones in a row: the first is spoken as a 2nd tone. You will hear ní hǎo, not nǐ hǎo. This is the most common tone sandhi in Mandarin — native speakers do it automatically.

Literal meaning

你
nǐ
you
好
hǎo
good

you · good

How to pronounce it

你
ní
ni3 · written nǐ
22nd · rising
n + “ee”. Tongue behind the teeth. Written as a 3rd tone, spoken here as a rise.
好
hǎo
hao3
33rd · dipping
h + ao (a clipped “how”). Full 3rd tone: drop low, then rise.

In real life

你好，我叫安娜。

Ní hǎo, wǒ jiào Ānnà.

Hello, my name is Anna.