壞 / 坏
huài
In Chinese, the word for bad can be expressed as 壞 / 坏 (huài) or 不好.
Meaning: unfavorable, negative (adj)
Ways to say it
| Chinese | Romanization (Wiktionary) | IPA |
|---|---|---|
| 壞 / 坏 | huài | |
| 不好 | bùhǎo | /pu⁵¹ xɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/ (Mandarin, Standard Chinese, Sinological IPA) /pu²¹ xau⁵³/ (Mandarin, Chengdu, Sinological IPA) |
The term 不好 is a general way to say something is 'not good'. It can also be used to describe a person's health or physical condition, such as stating that one's eyesight is bad. If you want to express that a situation is 'terrible' or 'awful' in an informal context, you might use 糟糕.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase 不好 is literally composed of 不 (not) and 好 (good).
Which one should you use?
Use 壞 / 坏 when describing something that is morally bad, broken (like a machine) or spoiled (like food). In contrast, 不好 is a more general way to say something is 'not good'.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Cantonese, the term for 'bad' is 壞.
How does it change in a sentence?
To negate the adjective 壞 / 坏, you use the negative particle 不 to form 不壞, meaning 'not broken' or 'not bad'.
How do you pronounce it?
huài
Did you know?
- The word 糟糕 for 'terrible' is derived from the process of making 'sticky rice' that has gone wrong or failed to set.
- The character 好 in 不好 is composed of the radicals for 'woman' and 'son', which historically represented the ideal of a 'good' family.
- In many Chinese social contexts, people avoid saying 不好 directly to be polite and instead use double negatives or vague alternatives to soften the blow.
Examples in context
- 我没觉得不好。I didn't feel bad.This sentence shows how to express not feeling bad using 不好.Tatoeba #5963987 by verdastelo9604, translation #5157770 by CK
- 你眼睛不好吗?Are your eyes bad?This sentence uses 不好 to ask if someone's eyesight is bad.Tatoeba #10275180 by miaojiandao, translation #68892 by CK
- 吃蟑螂不好嗎？Is eating cockroaches a bad idea?This sentence uses 不好 to ask if an action is a bad idea.Tatoeba #13468886 by LeviHighway, translation #953984 by CK
- 这种情况不好。This situation is bad.
- 今天的天气不好。The weather is bad today.
- 我的手机坏了。My phone is broken.
- 牛奶坏了。The milk has gone bad.
- 糟糕，我把钥匙忘在家里了！Oh no, I forgot my keys at home!
- 今天的交通糟糕。The traffic today is terrible.
- 39 more sentences on Tatoeba
Sources
- Wiktionary, “bad” translations and entries 不好, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
