Meaning of 好
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- good
- appropriate; proper
- all right!
- (before a verb) easy to
- (before a verb) good to
- (before an adjective for exclamatory effect) so
- (verb complement indicating completion)
- (of two people) close; on intimate terms
- to be fond of; to have a tendency to; to be prone to
How to use 好
好 is one of the most common words in Chinese. It means good, works as a reply meaning OK, and before verbs it forms words like 好吃 (hǎochī, tasty) and 好看 (hǎokàn, good-looking). Example: 这个菜很好吃。(Zhège cài hěn hǎochī.) This dish is delicious.
好 (hǎo) is made of 女 (woman) on the left and 子 (child) on the right. Picture a mother holding her child: that picture of family closeness stands for something good.
Common mistake: Learners often read every 好 as hǎo, but in 爱好 (àihào, hobby) and when it means to be fond of, it is fourth tone hào. Also, do not drop 很 in simple sentences: say 我很好 (wǒ hěn hǎo), not 我好, which sounds incomplete.
好 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
好 hǎo · good · 6 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 好.
| 最好 | zuìhǎo | best; had better ...; it would be best to ... |
| 好吃 | hǎochī | tasty; delicious |
| 好看 | hǎokàn | good-looking; nice-looking; (of a movie, book, TV show etc) good |
| 好听 | hǎotīng | pleasant to hear |
| 爱好 | àihào | to like; to be fond of; to take pleasure in; to be keen on; interest; hobby |
| 好玩儿 | hǎowánr | erhua variant of 好玩[hao3 wan2] |
| 好像 | hǎoxiàng | as if; to seem like |
| 不好意思 | bù hǎoyìsi | to feel embarrassed; to find it embarrassing |
| 好多 | hǎoduō | many; quite a lot |
| 好人 | hǎorén | good person; healthy person |
| 正好 | zhènghǎo | just (in time); just right |
| 好事 | hǎoshì | good action, deed, thing or work (also sarcastic, "a fine thing indeed"); charity |
Questions about 好
What does 好 mean?
好 (hǎo) means "good; appropriate; proper" and is used as a adjective, adverb and verb.
How do you write 好?
好 is made of 1 character: 好 (6 strokes). That is 6 strokes in total.
Is 好 an HSK word?
Yes. 好 is on the HSK 1 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How does 好 show that an action is finished?
After a verb, 好 can mean the action is done and ready. For example, 饭做好了 (fàn zuò hǎo le) means the meal is ready, and 准备好了 (zhǔnbèi hǎo le) means all set.
What does 好 mean before an adjective, like 好冷?
Before an adjective, 好 adds emotion and means so or really. 好冷 (hǎo lěng) means it is so cold, and 好漂亮 (hǎo piàoliang) means so pretty.