How to write hi in cantonese?
你好 您好 I can’t tell you the Cantonese pronunciation, but the Mandarin pronunciation for the first one is “ni3 hao3” (ni actually is pronounced as 2 tone since 3rd tone plus 3rd tone = 2nd tone). The Mandarin pronunciation for the second one is “nin3 hao3” with the same tone rule. The second one is more formal and is used as a greeting for elders, teachers, professionals upon first meeting them, etc. Even though the pronunciation is different, the characters are the same. That’s the beauty of all the dialects in China . . . they are vastly different in how they are spoken, but share the same meanings in writing! Good luck!
