# Happy New Year



## patrici

Hi! I'd love to know how to say happy new year in Chinese (the pronunciation).

Thanks in advance!


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## Spectre scolaire

Happy New Year! 祝新年快乐! zhù xīn nián kuài lè

This is how they say it in Mandarin.


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## Dalian

Or just 新年快乐 (xīn nián kuài lè).

-Dalian


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## jaxineau

I usually put some sort of "you" in the phrase.
祝您(nīn)新年快乐 or something like that.


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## lasirena

Hola Patrici,

No se' si has estudiado el pinyin (la romanizacio'n del chino).  Si no, te escribo la pronunciacio'n de "feliz anyo nuevo" segu'n las reglas de la pronunciacio'n del castellano: shin nien cuai lah.

** "sh" es la u'nica excepcio'n ya que este sonido no existe.  Aqui', "shin" se pronuncia como la palabra inglesa "sheep", so'lo que termina con n.

新年快乐! xīn nián kuài lè

shin nien cuai lah.


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## Grefsen

I have six students who are from China and I would like to send an e-mail to them this Sunday that that says "I wish you all a Happy New Year!" in Mandarin.  Would the following be correct?

祝大家新年快樂！


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## Lucia_zwl

Your students must feel lucky to have you as their teacher.

If you mean *Mandarin*, i.e. Simplified Chinese, the characters are written like this: 祝大家新年快乐！(so only the last character is "simplified") Your version is Traditional Chinese.


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## Skatinginbc

Lucia_zwl said:


> If you mean *Mandarin*, i.e. Simplified Chinese


 ????


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## Lucia_zwl

Skatinginbc said:


> ????


其实我是想说简体字和繁体字，so maybe "simplified Chinese character" and "traditional Chinese character" are more accurate?


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## SuperXW

Lucia_zwl said:


> Your students must feel lucky to have you as their teacher.
> 
> If you mean *Mandarin*, i.e. Simplified Chinese, the characters are written like this: 祝大家新年快乐！(so only the last character is "simplified") Your version is Traditional Chinese.


If they are from P.R.China or Malaysia or Singapore, use simplified Chinese, which is 祝大家新年快乐！
If they are from Taiwan or Hong Kong, use traditional Chinese, which is 祝大家新年快樂！ (The last character is different.)


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## SuperXW

Lucia_zwl said:


> 其实我是想说简体字和繁体字，so maybe "simplified Chinese character" and "traditional Chinese character" are more accurate?


嗯，Mandarin只表示官方漢語的說話標準，現在主要就是普通話或國語，和繁簡體無關。


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## BODYholic

Lucia_zwl said:


> 其实我是想说简体字和繁体字，so maybe "simplified Chinese character" and "traditional Chinese character" are more accurate?



I believe most of us understanding what you mean. But when you wrote "*... Mandarin*, _*i.e.*_ Simplified Chinese, ...", it makes a world of difference. 

"i.e." is short for the Latin words _id est_ which mean 'that is'. So, in your sentence, you claimed that "Mandarin is simplified Chinese" (another words, traditional Chinese is not) which is definitely inaccurate. And understandably, some people get annoyed or offended with such assertion. Instead, your sentence should read "*... Mandarin*, _*e.g.*_ Simplified Chinese, ...". 

蛇年快乐。


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## Youngfun

Another reason is that in Taiwan they speak Mandarin（国语）but write in Traditional Chinese（繁体字）! (Not mentioning pre-1950's China and pre-1980's Singapore)

新年好！ (I always prefer 好 rather than 快乐)


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## xiaolijie

Many posts on internet forums are typically quick posts and it's common to see unintended mistakes. It's also quite easy to recognise what is unintended and what is intentional, and I hope we all participate in discussions with this understanding and tolerance.

For example, if I want to pick on someone's post above, I'd say there're no such things as _"simplified Chinese"_ and _"traditional Chinese"_. Nevertheless, we all know what the posters really mean, even by those convenient but inaccurate labels. 

蛇年吉祥, everyone!


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## Lucia_zwl

Sorry for my inaccurate interpretation of Mandarin. Thank you for pointing it out and for your understanding.


祝大家春节快乐，蛇年吉祥！


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## fdb

I understand that the traditonal greeting is:

恭喜發財
_Pinyin: __Gōngx__ǐ__fācá__i_
_Cantonese:  __Gung1 hei2 faat3 coi4_
Sino-Viet:_ Cung h__ỉ phát tài_
etc.

Is that correct?


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## xiaolijie

> Is that correct?


Yes, I think so. This greeting seems to be very popular among Cantonese speakers and spreading...


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## Grefsen

Lucia_zwl said:


> Your students must feel lucky to have you as their teacher.


That's very nice of you. Thanks also for making me feel very welcome in this forum. 



SuperXW said:


> If they are from P.R.China or Malaysia or Singapore, use simplified Chinese, which is 祝大家新年快乐！
> If they are from Taiwan or Hong Kong, use traditional Chinese, which is 祝大家新年快樂！ (The last character is different.)


Thank you so much for this very helpful information.


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## Youngfun

xiaolijie said:


> Yes, I think so. This greeting seems to be very popular among Cantonese speakers and spreading...


I didn't know it was of Cantonese origin. I thought it was a traditional Chinese greeting. Actually more "Chinese" than 新年快乐。


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## antonB

Is there a difference in the greetings between the Chinese lunar calendar and the Gregorian calendar for these occasions?

How do we say the eve of these occasions.

I'm new to this forum and this is my maiden post. Wish everyone Happy New Year's Eve!


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## corner1912

Hi antonB, welcome to the forum!

For the Gregorian calendar, “新年快乐” would be the only choice. (or you can say “元旦快乐”, but in my opinion it is more like a festival blessing, not "happy new year")

For the Chinese lunar calendar , you can say “新年快乐”, “春节快乐”, “新春快乐”, etc. The eve of “春节” is “除夕”.

Happy New Year!


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## antonB

Thanks for the answers. Would it be correct to say 除夕快乐 for today, 31 Dec, or is this expression more appropriate for the lunar new year's eve?


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## corner1912

No, only the eve of Spring Festival is “除夕”，it refers in particular to the eve of Spring Festival. The eve of 1 Jan. is not “除夕”.

And we rarely say “除夕快乐”, I guess maybe it is because that “除夕” is a very short time and not that important comparing to the New Year.


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## antonB

明白了。多谢你！


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## corner1912

antonB said:


> 明白了。多谢你！



You are welcome!


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## forgoodorill

Actually, we often say 新年快乐. Whenever you need to say this today (12.31) or tomorrow(1.1).
But actually, we send our wish tomorrow. Thisis more idimotic.
And before one day of  traditional Chinese New Year, you could say 除夕快乐 or 新年快乐. 
You could say 新年快乐 in traditional Chinese New Year.


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## antonB

That's great. Thanks.


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## SimonTsai

Grefsen said:


> 祝大家新年快樂！


That sounds great! Or you can say '祝各位春節愉快’, which is slightly literary.


corner1912 said:


> “春节快乐”, “新春快乐”, etc.


I, personally, would say '春節愉快' or '新春愉快'; '快樂' sounds a wee bit off.


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