How to Respond to Compliments in Chinese in 4 Ways
If you speak Chinese and have been to China, you probably know that Chinese people love to compliment foreigners on their Chinese.
Next time you get complimented, instead of going back to your standard 谢谢 (xièxiè – “Thank you”) response, why not vary it up with one of these replies?
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1. 没有没有 (méiyǒu méiyǒu) — No, no
This is a standard response that is more humble than 谢谢 since you’re not fully agreeing with the compliment.
2. 没有那么厉害 (méiyǒu nàme lìhài) — No, I’m not that awesome
This is a response that makes sense if your complimenter is really laying it on thick with something like 你的中文真好 (nǐde zhōngwén zhēnhǎo – “Your Chinese is really good”).
3. 哪里哪里 (nǎlǐ nǎlǐ) — No, not at all
This is a lot like 没有没有 but sounds slightly more polite. Interestingly, 哪里 also means “Where?” in questions.
4. 过奖 (guò jiǎng) — You speak too highly of me
If you want to show off a bit while acting modest, this is the “coolest” response out of the four responses. Your complimenter may go from thinking your Chinese is pretty good to thinking that it’s really good.
This is a super versatile one that you can use in any of the following combinations (they all mean basically the same thing):
过奖 (guòjiǎng)
你过奖 (nǐ guòjiǎng)
过奖了 (guòjiǎng le)
你过奖了 (nǐ guòjiǎng le)
You can see more examples of responding to compliments by watching videos by and for native Chinese speakers on FluentU. FluentU takes authentic videos—like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks—and turns them into personalized language learning lessons. You can try FluentU for free for 2 weeks. Check out the website or download the iOS app or Android app. P.S. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)
Next time you’re complimented in Chinese you’ll know exactly what to say.
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