好 (hǎo) · good; fine; OK

Meanings

1 good; fine; OK
2 easy to do; pleasant to
3 so; how; very
4 completed; finished; done; ready

Characters

好

hǎo

good; well; fine

Examples

HSK 1

你好！

Nǐhǎo!

Hello!

HSK 1

今天天气很好。

Jīntiān tiānqì hěn hǎo.

The weather is great today.

HSK 3

作业做好了，我去吃饭。

Zuòyè zuò hǎo le, wǒ qù chīfàn.

The homework is done - I'm going to eat.

Tips

memory

好 combines 女 (woman) and 子 (child) - a mother with her child, the very picture of 'good'.

usage

好 before a verb means 'easy / pleasant to V': 好吃 (delicious), 好看 (good-looking), 好听 (pleasant to hear). After a verb it marks completion: 做好 (finished doing), 准备好 (ready).

mistakes

好 has two readings. As hǎo (3rd tone) it means 'good / fine / easy to': 好人 (good person), 好看 (good-looking). As hào (4th tone) it means 'to be fond of': 爱好 (hobby), 好奇 (curious). If the word describes someone's taste or tendency, switch to hào.

Components

radical

女 nǚ

woman; female

Sits on the left as the indexing radical - pictograph of a kneeling woman seen in profile. Combined with 子 on the right it forms the classic compound ideograph: a woman together with her child equals 'good', the most basic image of well-being in early Chinese thought. Same radical heads 妈 mother, 姐 elder sister, 妹 younger sister.

semantic

子 zǐ

child; son

Right side - pictograph of a swaddled infant with arms wrapped, a single curving stroke for the body. Combined with 女 it gives the compound ideograph 'mother + child = good'. The same child component appears in 字 character (originally 'breeding under a roof'), 孩 child, 孤 orphan.