很好吃
hěn hǎochī
The English phrase "very delicious" is translated into Chinese as 很好吃 (hěn hǎochī).
很好吃 is used to describe food that tastes very good.
What does it mean word for word?
The character 很 (hěn) literally means "very".
Which one should you use?
Use 好喝 (hǎohē) instead of 很好吃 (hěn hǎochī) when describing delicious liquids like soup, tea or juice. The phrase 超级好吃 (chāo jí hǎo chī) means super delicious and is used in informal conversations. The phrase 好吃得不得了 (hǎo chī dé bù dé liǎo) is a colloquial way to say so delicious that one cannot handle it.
How does it change in a sentence?
In Chinese, the adverb 很 (hěn) is often used as a grammatical link between a subject and an adjective, even if the speaker doesn't strictly mean 'extremely'.
How do you pronounce it?
hěn hǎochī
What mistakes should you avoid?
English speakers often mistakenly use 很好吃 (hěn hǎochī) to describe the smell of food, but it specifically refers to the taste/eating experience.
Did you know?
- When someone tells you their cooking is 很好吃 (hěn hǎochī), it is polite to modestly deny it by saying 哪里哪里 (nǎlǐ nǎlǐ), which literally means 'where where'.
- The character 好 (hǎo) in 很好吃 is composed of the radicals for 'woman' 女 and 'child' 子, historically symbolizing that a woman with a child is a 'good' or 'auspicious' thing.
- In very informal youth slang, the word 绝了 (jué le) is often used instead of 很好吃 to describe food that is so delicious it is 'absolutely peerless'.
Examples in context
- 这些食物看起来很好吃。The food looks very delicious.This sentence shows how to use 很好吃 to describe the appearance of food.Tatoeba #332735 by popolady, translation #432736 by aliene
- 众所周知，中国菜非常好吃。As everyone knows, Chinese food is very delicious.
- 这道菜的口感绝佳，真是难以置信。The texture of this dish is superb, it's truly unbelievable.
- 哇！这个蛋糕超级好吃，简直是甜品界的霸主。Wow! This cake is super delicious, it's the king of desserts.
- 妈妈做的菜很好吃。Māma zuò de cài hěn hǎochī.The food Mom makes is very delicious.
- 这个蛋糕很好吃。Zhège dàngāo hěn hǎochī.This cake is very delicious.
Example conversation
Zhiqiang and Zihan are eating dinner together.
- 志强 Zhiqiang你觉得这个面很好吃吗？Nǐ juéde zhège miàn hěn hǎochī ma?Do you think these noodles are very delicious?
- 梓涵 Zihan是的，真的很好吃！Shì de, zhēnde hěn hǎochī!Yes, they are really very delicious!
- 志强 Zhiqiang太好了，我也很喜欢。Tài hǎo le, wǒ yě hěn xǐhuan.Great, I like them very much too.
- 梓涵 Zihan我们下次再来吃吧。Wǒmen xiàcì zài lái chī ba.Let's come and eat here again next time.
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
