好
hǎo/xɑʊ̯²¹⁴/
In Chinese, the word for "nice" is 好 (hǎo).
好 is used to describe things that are attractive, friendly or good. When you want to describe someone's character as being a "nice person," the phrase 好人 is commonly used. Interestingly, 好 also functions as an intensive adverb meaning "very" when it is placed immediately before another adjective, such as in the phrase 好香 (very fragrant).
Meaning: attractive, friendly (adj)
Which one should you use?
While 好 can mean "nice" or "good," other forms are used for specific nuances. Use 美好 to emphasize the beauty or goodness of a pleasant experience, and use 优秀 to convey that someone is "excellent" or "nice" regarding their outstanding achievements or performance. For more casual enthusiasm, you might use 棒 to mean "great," "nice," or "awesome," or 不错 to mean "not bad" or "nice." To express admiration for someone's abilities, the informal term 厉害 can be used to mean "impressive" or "nice."
How does it change in a sentence?
To say that something is "very nice," you can add the adverb 很 before 好 to form 很好.
How do you pronounce it?
hǎo (/xɑʊ̯²¹⁴/)
Did you know?
Examples in context
- 花真的好香。These flowers have a really nice fragrance.This sentence shows how to use 好 to describe a pleasant fragrance.Tatoeba #2347863 by GlossaMatik, translation #2347862 by FeuDRenais2
- 有朋友真好。It's nice to have friends.This sentence uses 好 to express the goodness of having friends.Tatoeba #6318533 by verdastelo9604, translation #6303746 by Hybrid
- 我是一个好人。I'm a nice guy.This sentence uses 好 to describe a person with a nice character.Tatoeba #1786008 by sadhen, translation #838729 by Scott
- 你的演讲很好。Your speech is nice.
- 这场音乐会真美好。This concert is really nice.
- 他的成绩很优秀。His grades are excellent.
- 你的设计真棒！Your design is great!
- 这个地方还不错。This place is pretty nice.
- 你的表演真厉害！Your performance is really impressive!
- 71 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Two friends are talking about a new colleague at work.
- 浩然 Haoran你觉得新同事怎么样？Nǐ juéde xīn tóngshì zěnmeyàng?What do you think of the new colleague?
- 佳怡 Jiayi我觉得他非常好。Wǒ juéde tā fēicháng hǎo.I think he is very nice.
- 浩然 Haoran他经常帮你工作吗？Tā jīngcháng bāng nǐ gōngzuò ma?Does he often help you with work?
- 佳怡 Jiayi是的，他真的很好。Shì de, tā zhēnde hěn hǎo.Yes, he is really nice.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry 好, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries 好, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
