Chinese language - simple sentences - greetings

Let's learn some simple greetings today.
http://www.chineselearner.com/speaking/chinese-greetings.htm

Copy and paste each sentences to http://www.chinese-tools.com/tools/annotation.html to get annotation.
Online dictionary http://www.nciku.com/

No need to cram the new words in your head. Learning a word is like to know a person, takes time and repetitive encounters.

Here are some breakdowns of these sentences in above link (in addition to annotation you get from http://www.chinese-tools.com/tools/annotation.html it may not always be correct, as it's just a web application, and lacks human touch).
你好！How do you do!
Used when you meet people the 1st time.
您好！ How do you do! (more respectful)
Hint: 您 is composed of 你 + 心（heart)


很高兴认识你。
Very happy to know you. -> Nice to meet you.
很 very
E.g. 很好 very good

We normally say
你好！很高兴认识你。  or
您好！很高兴认识您。
when we meet people (after been introduced) for the 1st time.


早上好！Good morning!
下午好！Good afternoon!
晚上好！Good evening!
晚安！Good night!  晚(evening/late) + (安 safe/quiet/still/peace)
You hear anchors say these during news broadcasting. But Chinese don't usually greeting each other with these in day to day life, they say 'hey' / 'have you eaten' or just a nod. And they never say 'Good day'.
When acquaintances meet on road , they usually say:
吃了吗？Have you eaten?     吃(eat) 了( completed action marker - (something ) is done )

出去呀？Are your going out?     出(out) 去(go)  -> 出去(go out) 
去哪呀？Where are you going?     哪（where）
干啥去呀？What are you going to do and where?    干（do） 啥（what）
吗 and 呀 are question tags, which have no meaning themselves, but to add at the end of sentence (with ?) to note that this is a question （not a statement）.


好久不见，long time no see   好久(quite a while) 不(not) 见（see）
最近怎么样？ How have you been recently?  最近（recently） 怎么样(how about/how is/ how are ...)
We already know 好 means 'good', but here it means 'quite/very'。 So single word in Chinese is quite flexible in definition, only in sentences/contexts can you find its exact meaning.
...怎么样? How is/are (things going)?
is a popular question format.
E.g.
工作怎么样? How is (your) work?


最近忙什么呢？ 忙（busy）什么（what） 呢-> busy at what?
呢, like 吗 and 呀（as above mentioned）, is also a question tag.

最近身体还好吗？身体（body）还好（OK） -> doing well
How are you recently? / How is your health recently?

...还好吗？ Is ... good/well?
E.g.
你还好吗？ How are you doing? / Are you doing well?



最近工作顺利吗？工作（work）顺利（smoothly）
...顺利吗？Does ... go smoothly?



请代我向你父母问好。请（please）代我（for me）向（to）你父母（your parents）问好（send regards） -> Please send my regards to your parents.
请...  Please ...
E.g.
请进来。Please come in.  进来（come in）

代我...  (do something) for me

你父母 your parents
When referring to people related to you/him/her, it's not necessary to add 's (possessive case) in Chinese. But still we can.
E.g.
他父母 his parents  =  他的父母      的（of... / 's）
她父母 her parents =  她的父母
你叔叔 your uncle = 你的叔叔


王伟要我向你问好。要（ask/want）
Wanwei asked me to say hello to you (for him). - > Wanwei wanted to say hello to you (he requested me as the messenger.)



Above words breakdown may seem weird, so please read and listen more, and you get the feeling of how to make sentences. As the saying goes:
熟读唐诗三百首 不会做诗也会吟
If you read The Three Hundred Tang Poems fluently, you can at least recite poems if not write one。
熟能生巧 practice makes perfect


If you have questions, just put them in comments. I'll try my best to answer them.
For complete list of lessons, please visit http://daytodaychinese.net/Default.aspx?Level=1.