好容易 meaning in English
(idiomatic usage) with great difficulty; to have a hard time (convincing sb, relinquishing sth etc)
Meaning of 好容易
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- (idiomatic usage) with great difficulty
- to have a hard time (convincing sb, relinquishing sth etc)
- (literal usage) so easy
How to use 好容易
In everyday speech 好容易 usually means "with great difficulty" and comes before the verb, often followed by 才 (cái). Example: 我好容易才找到他的家。 (Wǒ hǎoróngyì cái zhǎodào tā de jiā.) I found his house only after a lot of trouble.
好容易 is built from 好 (hǎo, very) plus 容易 (róngyì, easy), so it looks like "so easy." Remember it as sarcasm: saying "oh, that was so easy" after a struggle really means it was very hard.
Common mistake: Learners often read 好容易 as "very easy" when it actually means "very hard" in most contexts. Do not confuse it with 很容易 (hěn róngyì), which really does mean "very easy."
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
好 hǎo · good · 6 strokes
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容 róng · appearance · 10 strokes
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易 yì · to change · 8 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 好容易.
| 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 好容易
What does 好容易 mean?
好容易 (hǎoróngyì) means "(idiomatic usage) with great difficulty; to have a hard time (convincing sb, relinquishing sth etc)" and is used as a adjective.
How do you write 好容易?
好容易 is made of 3 characters: 好 (6 strokes), 容 (10 strokes), 易 (8 strokes). That is 24 strokes in total.
Is 好容易 an HSK word?
Yes. 好容易 is on the HSK 6 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
Is 好容易 the same as 好不容易?
Yes, when describing a hard result they mean the same thing: 好容易才 and 好不容易才 both mean "with great difficulty." 好不容易 is more common and less ambiguous, so it is a safe choice for learners.
Can 好容易 ever mean "so easy"?
Yes, in the literal sense, as in 这道题好容易啊 (zhè dào tí hǎo róngyì a), "this question is so easy." Context decides: when it comes before a verb with 才, it almost always means "with difficulty."