How to say goodbye in Chinese: 再見 (zàijiàn)

Goodbye in Chinese is 再見, written zàijiàn in pinyin and ㄗㄞˋ ㄐㄧㄢˋ in 注音. Both syllables are fourth tones, a falling tone, but the second fall starts a little lower than the first.

再見zài jiànㄗㄞˋ ㄐㄧㄢˋgoodbye; see you

Standard and spoken

Our native speaker recorded 再見 twice: standard, slow and clear like a textbook, and spoken, at normal speed. Both lines are drawn on the same time scale.

Standardslow and clear

1.16 s

Spokennormal speed

0.62 s

In the standard recording, 再 falls from the top of her voice to the bottom. 見 starts a little lower and falls to the bottom again.

In the spoken recording, 再 hardly falls. It stays level in the upper middle of her voice, and only 見 falls. The whole word takes about 0.6 seconds.

Syllable by syllable

再zàiFourth tone. z is like ds in reads, ai like the word eye. Start high and fall.
見jiànFourth tone. j is a soft j with the tongue tip down, ian sounds like yen. Start a little lower than 再 and fall to the bottom.

Common mistakes

Two identical falls from the top of your voice.Start 見 a little lower than 再.
Saying zai with an English z.z is closer to the ds in reads.
Saying jian like the English name Jan.ian sounds like yen: ji-yen, in one syllable.

Common phrases and replies

拜拜bāi bāibye-byeThe everyday goodbye in Taiwan, used by all ages.
明天見míng tiān jiànsee you tomorrow見 alone means see you; put the time in front.
下次見xià cì jiànsee you next timeTo a teacher or a shop you come back to.
慢走màn zǒutake care (lit. walk slowly)Said by the host to a leaving guest.

Taiwan and mainland

In Taiwan 拜拜 is far more common than 再見 in daily life, from friends to shop staff; 再見 sounds a little more formal or final. In northern mainland speech the second 見 is sometimes lighter, while Taiwan speakers tend to keep both syllables full.

Practise it out loud

Say it and see your pitch drawn over the recording.

Practise the fourth tone, free

The tone visualizer is free and needs no account.

Questions

Does 再見 mean see you again?

Literally yes: 再 is again and 見 is to see. In use it is a general goodbye, even to someone you will not see again.

Should both syllables fall the same way?

No. Let the second fall start a bit lower. Two big falls from the top sound harsh. At normal speed the first one hardly falls.

Is 拜拜 Chinese?

It comes from English bye-bye, but it is normal Mandarin now, especially in Taiwan. It is written 拜拜 and usually said bāi bāi or bái bai.