"Hello?"

Translation: 喂？

[Handrisuselo]

喂 (wei) = Hello (for phone)
你好 (ni hao) = Hello (for conversation)

[mendosi]

喂 can also be used when calling out to someone to catch their attention, like we might say "Hey!" in English.

[RGZReGZ]

In fact it is definitely closer to "Hey". 喂 is informal at best, and rude depend on your tone. Try to say 喂 with a bit more force, and you sound like a thug looking for trouble.

[ASchaufele]

I was about say this. You only really hear (wei) when people are taking a phonecall. I dont know other uses for it though.

[MarriottPlayer]

I'm so glad I took Chinese in college, otherwise so much of this "no context" learning would be extra confusing.

[Agonisti]

I for one have more questions than answers every time I try to learn using this course. If anyone has helpful tips, links or resources, that'd be much appreciated.

[Mumblemee]

Hello Chinese is an app that I find really helpful. At this point I use Duo mainly to add to what I learn there and on Memrise. It's gotten better since they've added the tips in the app, but I still feel a bit lost in many of the exercises unfortunately.

[Kawcaba]

Thanks a lot!

[HKCrazee]

I find the discussions on Duo to be more helpful than the actual learning.

[nickeloush]

Maybe search for Chinese grammar wiki. Should have a url like: https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/

[07196]

I agree... That one goes nothing and I don't even understand if it means pardon or a way of starting the conversation or what

[Gabrielle145359]

It's what you say when you answer the phone.

[elarse1]

I don't know if this is just Taiwan, but I've heard 喂 pronounced as wéi, Duo seems to pronounce it with the accent going in the other direction...

[akavel]

Hm, is the question mark intended to symbolize phone context?

[Natch_7]

I wouldn't say that, only because "Hello?" can mean different things depending on the context in which it's used. For learning purposes, I think the only thing that indicates it's in the context of a phone conversation is the category.

[Giannis317178]

In spoken Chinese the character 喂 has the second tone. You will never hear a Chinese using the forth tone. It is always read with a second tone. I think Duo should use the second tone too for the correct pronunciation.

[Annn939120]

Usually when you are saying hello, you would say wei2. It sounds less harsh and is generally preferred. Since the fourth tone is more "Hey!" than hello.

[Amelia345553]

喂(wei) is used as a greeting when answering the phone, while 你好(nihao) is used as a conversational greeting.

[DJChan2]

The Wéi sounds more like Wèi. Was the wrong sound file used?

[AmyDFTBA]

Normally (and mostly) of the time, 喂 is pronounced with the 2nd tone on the phone, the 4th tone sounds really aggressive and invasive.

[Reno_Steve]

Am I the only one that finds it weird that duolingo thinks "hello" is a question?

[Sonjajajajaja]

It's "hello?" as in answering the phone. Check out the tips for more context :)

[Leapingfroglady]

There isn't a way to write a ? It isn't in the options.

[Leapingfroglady]

In order to get through that answer, I had to copy and paste 喂?
I hope this helps someone else.

[Duolingo_Donut]

喂 is a kinda disrespectful way to say hello

[pawlo18]

Could you say 'ni hao ma' with the same meaning?