A collection of useful phrases in Shanghainese, a variety of Wu Chinese spoken mainly in Shanghai in China
There seems to be no standard transliteration system for Shanghainese and the various sources used for this page use different systems.
See these phrases in any combination of two languages in the Phrase Finder. If you can provide recordings, corrections or additional translations, please contact me.
| English | 上海闲话 (Shanghainese) |
|---|---|
| Welcome | 欢迎 (hueugnin) |
| Hello (General greeting) | 侬好 (nóng hō) [nʊŋ.hɔ] 大家好！ (gawêi hō!) - Hello everybody 饭吃过伐？ (ve che gu va?) - "Have you eaten?" 饭吃过了伐？ (ve che gu le va?) - "Have you eaten?" 侬吃过饭了伐？ (nóng che gu ve le va?) - "Have you eaten?" 吃过了？ (che gu le) - "I've eaten" - reply |
| How are you? | 侬好伐? (nóng hō va?) 侬过得还好伐？ (nóng kūle e-hō va?) |
| Reply to 'How are you?' | 我蛮好，谢谢 (wú mehō, yáyà) 蛮好。侬呢？ (mehō. nóng nak?) 马马虎虎，谢谢！ (so-so) 不太好，谢谢！ (not too good) |
| Long time no see | 长远勿看见侬 (ssang2 yyu4 vak2 koe5 ji3 nong1) |
| What's your name? | 请问尊姓大名？ (chînmen tzenxin-dˆmin) 请问侬信啥？ (chînmen nóng xin sa?) 侬叫啥名子？ (nóng joh sa mingzi?) 请问乃能称呼？ (chînmen danung chungfu?) |
| My name is ... | 吾信 ... (wú xin ...) 吾叫 ... (wú jiō ...) |
| Where are you from? | 侬是撒地方人 （Nong si sali faning?) |
| I'm from ... | 吾 ... 啥个人 (Ngu sa he ning ...) |
| Pleased to meet you | 我看到侬真高兴 (ngu23 koe3 dao5 nong1 zen51 gao5 xin1) 看到侬真的老开心 (koe3 dao5 nong1 zen51 de lok ke xin1) |
| Good morning (Morning greeting) |
侬早 (nóng zō) 早安 (zō ä) 早晨好 (zōlǎng hō) |
| Good afternoon (Afternoon greeting) |
|
| Good evening (Evening greeting) |
夜里好 (yà lī hō) 夜里相好 (yà lī xiāng hō) |
| Good night | 晚安 (wö ä) |
| Goodbye (Parting phrases) |
再会 (zä wēi) 明朝会 (minzō wēi) |
| Good luck! | Na kuade man duo tihu be |
| Cheers! Good Health! (Toasts used when drinking) |
干杯干杯 (Gubeh gubeh!) |
| Have a nice day | |
| Bon appetit / Have a nice meal |
吃的开心 (Chin la ke xin ye) |
| Bon voyage / Have a good journey |
一路顺风 (yilu shunfeng) 旅途愉快 (liudu-yukha) |
| I don't know | 吾伐晓得 (ngú ba shede) |
| I understand | 吾明白 (wú xiohteq) 吾懂 (wú dōng) |
| I don't understand | 我不明白 (wú veqxiohteq) 吾弗懂 (wú fé dōng) 我不懂 (ngú ban dong) |
| Please speak more slowly | 讲慢的 (gong man di) |
| Please say that again | 再讲遍 (Tse gang di) |
| Please write it down | 写下来 (xiā wū lä) 请侬写下来 (qǐng nóng xiā wū lä) |
| Do you speak English? | 侬会得讲英文吗？ (Nóng wui de gāng yīngvēn va?) |
| Do you speak Shanghainese? | 侬会得讲上海闲话吗？ (Nóng wui de gāng sǎnghääwú va?) |
| Yes, a little (reply to 'Do you speak ...?') |
一点点 |
| How do you say ... in Shanghainese? | 上海闲话哪能讲 (... sǎnghääwú nannung gang?) |
| Excuse me | 不好意思 (buho yisi) |
| How much is this? | 几钿？ (chihdih?) 价钿？ (gahdih?) 多少钞票？ (dohsao chaopiao?) 这个是几钿？ (gambah sih chihdih?) |
| Sorry | 对弗起 (dēi fé qì) 勿好意思 (vak hao yi si) |
| No problem | 勿要紧个 (vak2 yao5 jin3 aak1) |
| Thank you | 谢谢 (yáyà) 谢谢侬 (yáyà nóng) |
| Reply to thank you | 弗用客气 (fé yōng kēqì) 勿要谢 (viō jia) 没关系 (mak5 gue3 xi1) 勿要客气 (viō kēqì) 没事体俄 (meq zyhthih req) 覅客气 (viō kēqì) 覅谢得个 (viō-jā teqreq) 霞霞侬 (xiá yà nóng) |
| Where's the toilet / bathroom? | 汏手间勒勒何里耷？ (dahsoeke lalaq rahlitaq?) |
| This person will pay for everything | 铜钱都这人付？ (Dongdi tse ganin fu) |
| Would you like to dance with me? | 侬hao跟我chao舞蹈吗？ (Nóng hao gun ngû chaotsaowu ba?) |
| I miss you | 老想念侬个 (lao23 xing3 ni5 nong3 aak1) |
| I love you | 侬爱你 (ngu eh nóng) 吾老欢喜侬额 (Ngu long hushin long lah) |
| I'm not feeling well | 我有眼勿适意 (ngû yoê’ngê veq seq’i) |
| Get well soon | 快点好起来 (Kuadi ho chih le!) |
| Leave me alone! | 死的远点 (Shi la yu di!) |
| Help! | 救命啊! (qiuming a!) |
| Fire! | 着火了 (Sa fu la!) |
| Stop! | 停! (ting!) |
| Call the police! | 叫警察了! (Jiu jingchat le!) |
| Christmas greetings | 圣诞节快乐 (sêntêjit khuâloq) |
| Easter greetings | |
| Birthday greetings | 生日快乐 (sangniq khuâloq) |
| One language is never enough | 只会讲一种外国闲话是不够的 (Tse wei gong e zhongla guiwuze bage uh) |
| My hovercraft is full of eels |
Recordings, corrections and additions by Donna Yu Ying and Weihang Xu
If you would like to make any corrections or additions to this page, or if you can provide recordings, please contact me.
Hear some Shanghainese phrases
Other collections of phrases in Shanghainese
http://www.17-minute-world-languages.com/en/shanghainese/
http://www.fyan8.com/shanghai/jichuhuihua.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghainese
Information about Shanghainese | Phrases | Numbers | Books about Shanghainese on: Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk [affilate links]
Cantonese, Hakka, Mandarin, Shanghainese, Taiwanese, Teochew
Written Chinese: Oracle Bone Script, Simplified characters, Bopomofo, Types of characters, Structure of written Chinese, Evolution of characters, How the Chinese script works, Xiao'erjing, General Chinese
Spoken Chinese: Mandarin, Dungan, Wu, Shanghainese, Wenzhounese, Yue, Cantonese, Weitou, Min, Jian'ou, Taiwanese, Teochew, Fuzhounese, Puxian, Hakka, Xiang, Gan, How many people speak Chinese?
Other Chinese pages: Chinese numbers (數碼) | Chinese classifiers (量詞) | Electronic dictionaries | Chinese links | Books: Chinese characters and calligraphy | Cantonese | Mandarin, Shanghainese, Hokkien and Taiwanese
[top]
Why not share this page:
If you like this site and find it useful, you can support it by making a donation via PayPal or Patreon, or by contributing in other ways. Omniglot is how I make my living.
Note: all links on this site to Amazon.com
Get a 30-day Free Trial of Amazon Prime (UK)
If you're looking for home or car insurance in the UK, why not try Policy Expert?
[top]
