好吃吗？
hǎochī ma?
The English phrase "is it good?" is translated into Chinese as 好吃吗？ (hǎochī ma?)
好吃吗？ is a question used to ask if food or drink tastes good.
Which one should you use?
If you are asking about the taste of a liquid such as tea, coffee or soup, use 好喝吗？ instead of 好吃吗？
How does it change in a sentence?
The particle 吗 is added to the end of a declarative statement to turn it into a yes/no question.
How do you pronounce it?
hǎochī ma?
What mistakes should you avoid?
English speakers often mistakenly use 好吗？ to ask if food tastes good, but this is used to ask for agreement or permission rather than taste.
When do people say it?
A common way to respond to this question is saying 很好吃, which means "very delicious".
Did you know?
- The character 好 is composed of two parts: a woman and a child. It is one of the most common ways to express 'good' because the combination represents a traditional ideal of harmony.
- The word for 'eat', 吃 (chī), is used in many Chinese idioms to describe consuming things other than food, such as 'eating' bitterness to describe enduring hardship.
- Chinese has a specific word 鲜 for a type of 'good' taste found in seafood or broth that English speakers usually translate as 'umami'.
Examples in context
- 这个产品好吗？Is this product good?
- 这个酒店怎么样？How is this hotel?
- 这个演讲好不好？Is this presentation good or not?
- 这个电影好吗？Is this movie good?
- 这个游戏怎么样？How is this game?
- 这个餐厅好不好？Is this restaurant good or not?
- 这个演唱会值得吗？Is this concert worth it?
- 这个好吃吗？Zhège hǎochī ma?Is this delicious?
- 妈妈做的菜好吃吗？Māma zuò de cài hǎochī ma?Is the food Mom made good?
- 那个蛋糕好吃吗？Nàge dàngāo hǎochī ma?Is that cake tasty?
Example conversation
Junjie and Xiaowen are eating at a new restaurant.
- 俊杰 Junjie晓雯，这个好吃吗？Xiǎowén, zhège hǎochī ma?Xiaowen, is this good?
- 晓雯 Xiaowen非常好吃！Fēicháng hǎochī!It is very delicious!
- 俊杰 Junjie我也觉得很好吃。Wǒ yě juédé hěn hǎochī.I think it is also very tasty.
- 晓雯 Xiaowen我们要再点一个。Wǒmen yào zài diǎn yīgè.We should order one more.
