不太好

bútàihǎo
phrase

Meanings

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

Examples

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

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 (tài, 4th tone).
grammar
不太 + adjective is a productive pattern: 不太 (not too expensive), 不太 (not too tired), 不太 (not quite right). Grammatically softer than + adjective alone.

Stroke Order

tài
hǎo