你今天怎么样？
nǐ jīntiān zěnmeyàng?
How are you today · trad. 你今天怎麼樣？
你今天怎么样？ (nǐ jīntiān zěnmeyàng?) is a common and natural way to ask 'how are you today?' in Mandarin Chinese. It's used to inquire about someone's general well-being or how their day is going.
What does 你今天怎么样？ (nǐ jīntiān zěnmeyàng?) mean?
你今天怎么样？ (nǐ jīntiān zěnmeyàng?) means “how are you today” in English. Word for word, it breaks down as “you today how/what kind.”
When to use it
Neutral and friendly. For a more polite or formal tone, especially when speaking to elders or superiors, you can use 您今天怎么样？ (nín jīntiān zěnmeyàng?). A common reply is 我很好 (wǒ hěn hǎo, 'I'm very good') or 还不错 (hái bùcuò, 'not bad').
How to pronounce it
Sounds roughly like “nee jeen-TYEN zen-mey-YANG?” Note the rising tone on '天' and '怎', and the falling-rising tone on '样'.
Other ways to say it
- 您今天怎么样？nín jīntiān zěnmeyàng?How are you today? (polite)
- 你最近怎么样？nǐ zuìjìn zěnmeyàng?How have you been recently? (broader timeframe)
Examples
你好，你今天怎么样？
nǐ hǎo, nǐ jīntiān zěnmeyàng?
Hello, how are you today?
我今天很好，你今天怎么样？
wǒ jīntiān hěn hǎo, nǐ jīntiān zěnmeyàng?
I'm good today, how are you today?
你今天怎么样？看起来有点累。
nǐ jīntiān zěnmeyàng? kànqilai yǒudiǎn lèi.
How are you today? You look a bit tired.
Pro tip: While both 你今天怎么样？ and 你今天好吗？ can mean 'how are you today?', 怎么样 (zěnmeyàng) is more open-ended, asking 'how things are going', whereas 好吗 (hǎo ma) is more of a yes/no question asking 'are you good?'
Related phrases
问好 · Greet问候 · Greeting补祝你生日快乐 · Happy belated birthday
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