Basic expressions: Greeting someone and apologizing for being late

🇹🇼 [嗨] is casual, like "hi." In Taiwan it fits friends, classmates, coworkers, or relaxed service situations; for strangers, [你好] often sounds a bit safer.

🇹🇼 [你好] works as a polite general greeting, but in Taiwan people often skip it and go straight to the reason they're speaking, especially in shops or everyday interactions.

💬 [了] often shows a new situation or completed action, so [來了] is "has come / is here now," not just plain "come." You can reuse this pattern with other verbs, like [到了] "has arrived."

💬 Chinese often says the action first where English uses "be": [你來了] is literally "you came/arrived," but naturally means "you're here." The same pattern works with [我到了。] for "I'm here / I've arrived."

🇹🇼 [對不起] is a real apology, stronger than a light "oops" or "excuse me." For small things like bumping into someone or being a bit late, many people in Taiwan also use [不好意思].

💬 [遲到] is the set phrase for "be late," and [了] adds "now / already," so [遲到了] means "am late" or "ended up late." You can use the same idea in [他遲到了。] "He's late."