不错 meaning in English

bùcuò

correct; right

HSK 2adjectiveTraditional 不錯17 strokes

Meaning of 不错

Definitions from CC-CEDICT.

bùcuò

correct
right
not bad
pretty good

How to use 不错

不错 is a very common, relaxed way to praise something, often warmer than it sounds in English. It can also mean "correct" when confirming a fact. Example: 这家饭馆很不错。(Zhè jiā fànguǎn hěn bùcuò.) This restaurant is really good.

不 (bù) means "not" and 错 (cuò) means "wrong" or "mistake," so 不错 is literally "not wrong." Something that has no mistakes is pretty good.

Common mistake: The tone of 不 changes before a fourth tone, so 不错 is said bú cuò, not bù cuò. Learners also mix up 不错 (pretty good) with 不对 (bùduì, incorrect). They look similar in meaning but work very differently.

不错 in example sentences

Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.

我wǒ有yǒu个gè不bù错cuò的de想xiǎng法fǎ。

I've had a brilliant idea.

他tā们men是shì不bù错cuò的de学xué生shēng。

They're able students.

不bú论lùn如rú何hé，我wǒ认rèn为wéi它tā不bù错cuò。

In spite of everything, I think it's not bad.

这zhè是shì部bù不bù错cuò的de相xiàng机jī。

This is a nice camera.

我wǒ今jīn天tiān感gǎn觉jué不bù错cuò。

I feel well today.

Stroke order for each character

Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.

不 bù · no · 4 strokes

错 cuò · mistake · 13 strokes

Related words

Words that share a character with 不错.

对不起	duìbuqǐ	I'm sorry; excuse me; I beg your pardon; to let (sb) down; to disappoint
是不是	shì bu shì	is or is not (used to form yes-no questions)
不用	bùyòng	need not
不大	bù dà	not very (clear, far away etc); not too; not often; infrequently
不对	bùduì	incorrect; wrong
不客气	bù kèqì	you're welcome; don't mention it
不要	bùyào	don't!; must not
不过	bùguò	only; merely
不行	bùxíng	won't do; be out of the question
不同	bù tóng	different; distinct
不好意思	bù hǎoyìsi	to feel embarrassed; to find it embarrassing
不够	bùgòu	not enough; insufficient

Questions about 不错

What does 不错 mean?

不错 (bùcuò) means "correct; right" and is used as a adjective.

How do you write 不错?

不错 is made of 2 characters: 不 (4 strokes), 错 (13 strokes). That is 17 strokes in total.

Is 不错 an HSK word?

Yes. 不错 is on the HSK 2 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.

How is 不错 written in traditional Chinese?

In traditional characters, 不错 is written 不錯.

Is 不错 a weak compliment like "not bad" in English?

Usually not. In Chinese, 不错 and especially 很不错 (hěn bùcuò) are sincere, positive praise. They often mean "good" or "quite good."

Can I use 不错 to answer "How are you?"

Yes. If someone asks 你最近怎么样？(Nǐ zuìjìn zěnmeyàng?), you can answer 还不错 (hái bùcuò), meaning "Pretty good" or "Not too bad."