WeChat etiquette: the Chinese phrases that matter

WeChat is your ID, wallet, office, and social life. Its unwritten rules matter more than grammar — here are the ones that count.

What you'll say

Tap play to hear it. Everything on this page runs in your browser — nothing is uploaded.

Heads-up: the voice you hear here is your browser’s built-in Mandarin — the app sounds considerably better. On iPhone it uses Apple’s enhanced and premium system voices, plays at real conversational speed, and has a slow mode for practising.

This device has no Chinese voice installed, so audio can’t play here. The app doesn’t have that problem — it uses the Mandarin voices built into iOS.

加个微信吧！

Jiā ge Wēixìn ba!

Let's add each other on WeChat!

The Chinese equivalent of exchanging numbers, business cards, and LinkedIn — all at once.

我扫你还是你扫我？

Wǒ sǎo nǐ háishi nǐ sǎo wǒ?

Should I scan you or you scan me?

The QR-code dance. Someone must present, someone must scan. This phrase resolves the standoff.

不好意思，我现在不方便听语音。

Bù hǎoyìsi, wǒ xiànzài bù fāngbiàn tīng yǔyīn.

Sorry, I can't listen to voice messages right now.

The polite counter to the 59-second voice message barrage. Send it as TEXT, obviously.

1 more phrase in this situation — plus the real-speed audio for all 4, the listening drill, and the camera. Six situations are free in the app; this one is part of Pro.

Get Tingbudong

What they'll say back

This is the part nobody teaches. Real Mandarin comes back fast and blunt, so hear it at natural speed first.

Press play before you read. In the app, anything you miss comes back slower and then again later, until you catch it at full speed.

They say

你的微信号是多少？

Nǐ de Wēixìn hào shì duōshao?

What's your WeChat ID?

You can answer

我给你看二维码，你扫一下。

Wǒ gěi nǐ kàn èrwéimǎ, nǐ sǎo yíxià.

I'll show you my QR code — scan it.

They say

拉你进我们的群哦。

Lā nǐ jìn wǒmen de qún o.

I'll add you to our group chat.

You can answer

好呀，谢谢！

Hǎo ya, xièxie!

Sure, thanks!

Other situations in Social

Surviving the banquet toast Colleague small talk Saying no without saying no