不太好

bútàihǎo
phrase

Meanings

  1. 1 not so good
  2. 2 not very well
  3. 3 not great

Examples

HSK 2
Tā zuìjìn shēntǐ bú tài hǎo.
His health hasn't been great lately.
HSK 2
Wǒ juéde zhèyàng zuò bú tài hǎo.
I don't think doing it this way is a good idea.
HSK 3
Zhège zhǔyi bú tài hǎo.
This idea isn't very good.

Tips

register
Soft, polite negative, equivalent to English 'not so great'. Chinese speakers often use 不太好 instead of 不好 to soften criticism. Note changes from 4th tone to 2nd tone (bú) before (4th tone).
grammar
不太 + adjective is a productive pattern: 不太贵 (not too expensive), 不太累 (not too tired), 不太对 (not quite right). Grammatically softer than + adjective alone.

Stroke Order

tài
hǎo