<p>From the accepted answer at <a href="http://zhidao.baidu.com/question/101763528.html">Baidu</a>:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Both are words of greeting. Nowadays people generally use “早上好”. “早安”
  will give a feeling of before 民国 (the Republic of China (1912-1949)), 
  or a literary feeling (it's common in literature).</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Other people think 早安 has a warmer feeling.</p>

<p>Of course this is the perspective of mainland people.</p>

<p>In Taiwan 早安 is used much more than 早上好. （Ratio: 28, Google advanced search: exact phrase, country TW, language zh-TW)</p>

<ul>
<li>"早安" 5,340,000</li>
<li>"早上好" 192,000</li>
</ul>

<p>In the mainland, incidentally, 早安 is <em>also</em> used much more than 早上好, although the degree of usage seems much closer. （Ratio: 2.3, Google advanced search: exact phrase, country CN, language zh-CN)</p>

<ul>
<li>"早安" 24,500,000</li>
<li>"早上好" 10,400,000 </li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-01-15T15:25:12.947Z
+1 for thinking to use search results as an indicator of use/popularity.
user3871
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-01-15T19:14:44.667Z
This is interesting because in Taiwan I always hear 早安 but people I know from Beijing say 早上好. The people from Beijing happened to be highly educated, so I wonder if 早上好 tends to be a more upper class (for lack of a better term) way of saying it.
Dan
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-01-15T20:34:29.587Z
@Dan no. I am from Beijing and I can confirm 早上好 is commonly used by all social groups. 早安 (or 早) sounds Southern-ish to us.
NS.X.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-01-15T20:37:20.080Z
@BertR I know people in Southern China say 早安 but they fall into zh-CN not zh-TW, which might explain the numbers.
NS.X.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-01-16T04:23:29.713Z
Very interesting, it is almost like saying "Hello" vs "Hi" in the morning.
John Siu
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-01-16T05:00:40.910Z
I think we are ignoring dialectal differences here. Are we talking about Mandarin or all dialects as a whole?
deutschZuid
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-01-16T05:22:02.860Z
@JamesJiao I think the dialectical differences people are mentioning ("Southern" people) are intra-Mandarin differences.
Stumpy Joe Pete
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-01-21T11:52:14.253Z
I prefer "早安" because it sounds warmer (or just I heard too much "早上好" ?)
Mike Manilone
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-06-18T03:15:33.530Z
Be aware that search results would have a bias towards written forms of the language, as opposed to the spoken form.
congusbongus
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-01-15T08:46:12.563Z
2013-01-15T16:38:27.240Z
2013-01-15T16:38:27.240Z
BertR
<p>Slightly off-topic, an alternative to 早安 in Taiwan is "吃飯了沒有？", literally ＂have you eaten， yet? " .  You may hear this more among older folks who experienced lean times in their youth, and also reflects generosity of the speaker.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-01-23T16:36:53.643Z
2013-01-23T16:36:53.643Z
Paul Snyder
<p>早安 is more literary, it's used more frequently in written form like novel and poems as well as articles, blogs and tweets. That's why Google gives more results.</p>

<p>Oral, we say 早上好 more.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-07-21T18:19:03.613Z
Edit more information into your answer please! At the very least, whether you're from the mainland or taiwan.
Stumpy Joe Pete
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-01-18T15:46:03.703Z
2013-01-18T15:46:03.703Z
Sin
<p>Generally people in Taiwan and Hongkong write in <strong>traditional chinese</strong> while people in Mainland China mostly write in <strong>simplified chinese</strong>.</p>

<p>Chinese in mainland speak mandarin. We speak <strong>早上好</strong> more often.</p>

<p>People in Hong Kong and Guangzhou speak Cantonese, which is much more ancient Chinese, they greet with <strong>早晨</strong>. Cantonese <strong>sounds</strong> totally different than mandarin, almost like a different language.</p>

<p>People in Taiwan speak mostly mandarin, they say <strong>早安</strong>, <strong>安</strong> means <strong>safe , in peace</strong></p>

<p>For detailed information:http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/正體字</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-01-16T04:11:08.490Z
(1) `Simplified Chinese 簡體字` and `Traditional Chinese 正體字` are always referring to the written character set, never to the spoken language / dialect (Mandarin/Cantonese).
John Siu
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-01-16T03:52:39.743Z
2013-01-16T07:34:35.357Z
2013-01-16T07:34:35.357Z
ChouLin
<p>早安 is Chinese for the English "good morning" and used in China everywhere.</p>

<p>早上好 is the creation of machine translation of English "good morning" and is probably used by translation machines. </p>

<p>I am a native Chinese speaking person and have travelled all over the world and I have never been greeted by anyone with "早上好".</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-06-14T00:15:56.070Z
please list evidence, but not just rely on your own language sense.
Stan
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-06-14T00:22:43.100Z
I mean, `早上好 is the creation of machine translation of English`, this **might be** true, but need a proof.
Stan
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-06-13T19:57:54.517Z
2013-06-13T19:57:54.517Z
gcheng
<p>Is there any difference in meaning, formality, tone, or otherwise between the "good morning" greetings 早安 and 早上好? Or just regional preferences? (I'm thinking perhaps the former may be more common in Taiwan and the latter more common in Mainland China and/or northern China but I'm not sure.)</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-07-21T11:18:32.497Z
I see no difference between 早上好 and 早安. Even more, you can simply say 安 or 早 instead.
eccstartup
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-07-22T03:04:15.047Z
Almost no difference, only "早上好" is more speech-styled, and "早安" is more formal.
XL _At_Here_There
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-07-23T05:52:56.077Z
Actually, you could just use one character “早” as the same meaning
user3002
<greetings>
Any difference between 早安 and 早上好?
# Any difference between 早安 and 早上好?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2013-01-15)

Is there any difference in meaning, formality, tone, or otherwise between the "good morning" greetings 早安 and 早上好? Or just regional preferences? (I'm thinking perhaps the former may be more common in Taiwan and the latter more common in Mainland China and/or northern China but I'm not sure.)

**Tags:** greetings

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I see no difference between 早上好 and 早安. Even more, you can simply say 安 or 早 instead.  
> **username_2**: Almost no difference, only "早上好" is more speech-styled, and "早安" is more formal.  
> **username_3**: Actually, you could just use one character “早” as the same meaning  

---

## 5 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2013-01-15. Score: 13

From the accepted answer at [Baidu](http://zhidao.baidu.com/question/101763528.html):

> Both are words of greeting. Nowadays people generally use “早上好”. “早安”
> will give a feeling of before 民国 (the Republic of China (1912-1949)),
> or a literary feeling (it's common in literature).

Other people think 早安 has a warmer feeling.

Of course this is the perspective of mainland people.

In Taiwan 早安 is used much more than 早上好. （Ratio: 28, Google advanced search: exact phrase, country TW, language zh-TW)

* "早安" 5,340,000
* "早上好" 192,000

In the mainland, incidentally, 早安 is *also* used much more than 早上好, although the degree of usage seems much closer. （Ratio: 2.3, Google advanced search: exact phrase, country CN, language zh-CN)

* "早安" 24,500,000
* "早上好" 10,400,000

> **Comments:**
> **username_5**: +1 for thinking to use search results as an indicator of use/popularity.  
> **username_0**: This is interesting because in Taiwan I always hear 早安 but people I know from Beijing say 早上好. The people from Beijing happened to be highly educated, so I wonder if 早上好 tends to be a more upper class (for lack of a better term) way of saying it.  
> **username_6**: @username_0 no. I am from Beijing and I can confirm 早上好 is commonly used by all social groups. 早安 (or 早) sounds Southern-ish to us.  
> **username_6**: @username_4 I know people in Southern China say 早安 but they fall into zh-CN not zh-TW, which might explain the numbers.  
> **username_7**: Very interesting, it is almost like saying "Hello" vs "Hi" in the morning.  
> **username_8**: I think we are ignoring dialectal differences here. Are we talking about Mandarin or all dialects as a whole?  
> **username_9**: @JamesJiao I think the dialectical differences people are mentioning ("Southern" people) are intra-Mandarin differences.  
> **username_10**: I prefer "早安" because it sounds warmer (or just I heard too much "早上好" ?)  
> **username_11**: Be aware that search results would have a bias towards written forms of the language, as opposed to the spoken form.  

---

### Answer by username_12 on 2013-01-23. Score: 3

Slightly off-topic, an alternative to 早安 in Taiwan is "吃飯了沒有？", literally ＂have you eaten， yet? " . You may hear this more among older folks who experienced lean times in their youth, and also reflects generosity of the speaker.


---

### Answer by username_13 on 2013-01-18. Score: 0

早安 is more literary, it's used more frequently in written form like novel and poems as well as articles, blogs and tweets. That's why Google gives more results.

Oral, we say 早上好 more.

> **Comments:**
> **username_9**: Edit more information into your answer please! At the very least, whether you're from the mainland or taiwan.  

---

### Answer by username_14 on 2013-01-16. Score: -1

Generally people in Taiwan and Hongkong write in **traditional chinese** while people in Mainland China mostly write in **simplified chinese**.

Chinese in mainland speak mandarin. We speak **早上好** more often.

People in Hong Kong and Guangzhou speak Cantonese, which is much more ancient Chinese, they greet with **早晨**. Cantonese **sounds** totally different than mandarin, almost like a different language.

People in Taiwan speak mostly mandarin, they say **早安**, **安** means **safe , in peace**

For detailed information:http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/正體字

> **Comments:**
> **username_7**: (1) `Simplified Chinese 簡體字` and `Traditional Chinese 正體字` are always referring to the written character set, never to the spoken language / dialect (Mandarin/Cantonese).  

---

### Answer by username_15 on 2013-06-13. Score: -4

早安 is Chinese for the English "good morning" and used in China everywhere.

早上好 is the creation of machine translation of English "good morning" and is probably used by translation machines.

I am a native Chinese speaking person and have travelled all over the world and I have never been greeted by anyone with "早上好".

> **Comments:**
> **username_16**: please list evidence, but not just rely on your own language sense.  
> **username_16**: I mean, `早上好 is the creation of machine translation of English`, this **might be** true, but need a proof.  

---

