好友 meaning in English

hǎoyǒu

close friend; pal

HSK 4noun10 strokes

Meaning of 好友

Definitions from CC-CEDICT.

hǎoyǒu

close friend
pal
(social networking website) friend

Measure word: 個|个

How to use 好友

好友 sounds a bit more written or formal than 朋友 (péngyou), and it is the standard word for adding a friend on apps like WeChat. Example: 我们是多年的好友。(Wǒmen shì duō nián de hǎoyǒu.) We have been close friends for many years.

好友 is simply 好 (hǎo, good) plus 友 (yǒu, friend). A good friend is a close friend.

Common mistake: Learners sometimes say 好朋友 and 好友 interchangeably in every context, but on social media the button is 加好友 (jiā hǎoyǒu, add friend), not 加好朋友. Also keep 友 (yǒu) in third tone and do not confuse it with 有 (yǒu, to have), which looks similar.

好友 in example sentences

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

我wǒ把bǎ他tā当dàng成chéng自zì己jǐ的de好hǎo友yǒu之zhī一yī。

I think of him as one of my good friends.

汤tāng姆mǔ正zhèng给gěi他tā的de好hǎo友yǒu写xiě信xìn。

Tom is writing a letter to his best friend.

我wǒ获huò得de了le好hǎo友yǒu的de帮bāng助zhù。

I was aided by a dear friend.

谢xiè谢xiè你nǐ把bǎ我wǒ加jiā为wèi好hǎo友yǒu。

Thanks for adding me as a friend.

我wǒ想xiǎng加jiā玛mǎ莉lì的de脸liǎn书shū好hǎo友yǒu。

I wanted to add Mary as a friend on Facebook.

Stroke order for each character

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

好 hǎo · good · 6 strokes

友 yǒu · friend · 4 strokes

Related words

Words that share a character with 好友.

朋友	péngyou	friend
最好	zuìhǎo	best; had better ...; it would be best to ...
女朋友	nǚpéngyou	girlfriend
好吃	hǎochī	tasty; delicious
男朋友	nánpéngyou	boyfriend
好看	hǎokàn	good-looking; nice-looking; (of a movie, book, TV show etc) good
小朋友	xiǎopéngyǒu	child; kid (used to refer to a child, or by an adult to address a child, or, in Taiwan, to
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
网友	wǎngyǒu	online friend; netizen; Internet user
好玩儿	hǎowánr	erhua variant of 好玩[hao3 wan2]
朋友们	péngyoumen

Questions about 好友

What does 好友 mean?

好友 (hǎoyǒu) means "close friend; pal" and is used as a noun.

How do you write 好友?

好友 is made of 2 characters: 好 (6 strokes), 友 (4 strokes). That is 10 strokes in total.

Is 好友 an HSK word?

Yes. 好友 is on the HSK 4 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.

What is the difference between 好友 and 好朋友?

Both mean close friend. 好朋友 (hǎo péngyou) is more casual and common in speech, while 好友 is shorter and more common in writing, news, and apps.

How do you say best friend in Chinese?

You can say 最好的朋友 (zuì hǎo de péngyou). In writing you may also see 挚友 (zhìyǒu) for a very close, devoted friend.