Meaning of 要好
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- to be on good terms
- to be close friends
- striving for self-improvement
How to use 要好
要好 is mostly used to describe a close relationship, often with 很 or 跟...很要好. It can also describe someone who is eager to do well, as in 要好的学生. Example: 她们俩从小就很要好。(Tāmen liǎ cóngxiǎo jiù hěn yàohǎo.) The two of them have been close since childhood.
要 (yào) means to want, and 好 (hǎo) means good. Two people who always want good things for each other are 要好, close friends.
Common mistake: Learners sometimes read 要好 as 'want good' and use it like 想要好的 (want a good one). In this word it is a fixed adjective about friendship or ambition, so say 我跟他很要好, not 我要好这个.
要好 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.
要 yào · to want · 9 strokes
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- 2
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- 9
好 hǎo · good · 6 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 要好.
| 最好 | zuìhǎo | best; had better ...; it would be best to ... |
| 重要 | zhòngyào | important; significant; major |
| 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] |
| 不要 | bùyào | don't!; must not |
| 只要 | zhǐyào | so long as; provided; if |
| 好像 | hǎoxiàng | as if; to seem like |
| 就要 | jiùyào | will; shall |
| 不好意思 | bù hǎoyìsi | to feel embarrassed; to find it embarrassing |
Questions about 要好
What does 要好 mean?
要好 (yàohǎo) means "to be on good terms; to be close friends" and is used as a adjective.
How do you write 要好?
要好 is made of 2 characters: 要 (9 strokes), 好 (6 strokes). That is 15 strokes in total.
Is 要好 an HSK word?
Yes. 要好 is on the HSK 6 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 要好 and 好朋友?
好朋友 (hǎo péngyou) is a noun meaning good friend. 要好 is an adjective describing the relationship, so you say 我们很要好 (we are close) or 他是我的好朋友 (he is my good friend).
How do I say I am close with someone using 要好?
Use the pattern A 跟 B 很要好 or A 和 B 关系要好. For example, 我跟同事很要好 (Wǒ gēn tóngshì hěn yàohǎo) means I am on very good terms with my coworker.