Moderating positive adjectives with "hai"

Whenever you want to imply that something is "good," but also kind of "meh," you can use 还 (hái) in front of the "good" adjective.

Commonly used expressions

Structure

Besides expressing continuation, 还 (hái) can also be used to weaken positive adjectives. This is similar to saying "fairly [good]" or "reasonably [good]" in English. Below are some of the most common adjectives that get "toned down" by 还 (hái) in this structure.

Subject + 还 好

Subject + 还 可以

Subject + 还 行

Subject + 还 不错

These can all be taken to mean "pretty good" or "all right" or "decent" (but also kind of meh... not great).

Examples

• 我 还 好 。 Wǒ hái hǎo. I'm OK.
• 这 个 地方 还 好 。 Zhè gè dìfang hái hǎo. This place is OK.
• 我 觉得 还 好 ， 没有 那么 难吃 。 Wǒ juéde hái hǎo, méiyǒu nàme nánchī. I think it's OK, it is not too bad-tasting.
• 啤酒 还 行 。 Píjiǔ hái xíng. Beer is decent.
• 这 个 店 的 衣服 还 行 。 Zhè gè diàn de yīfu hái xíng. The clothes in this shop are alright.
• 颜色 还 行 。 Yánsè hái xíng. The color is OK.
• 那 个 学校 还 可以 。 Nà gè xuéxiào hái kěyǐ. That school is so-so.
• 这里 的 菜 还 可以 。 Zhèlǐ de cài hái kěyǐ. The food here is so-so.
• 房子 还 不错 ， 但是 有 点 贵 。 Fángzi hái bùcuò, dànshì yǒu diǎn guì. The apartment is not too bad, but it is a bit expensive.
• 我们 老板 还 不错 。 Wǒmen lǎobǎn hái bùcuò. Our boss is not too bad.

“还算” Used with an Adjective

Besides these commonly used fixed expressions, the phrase "还算" (hái suàn) can also be used together with an adjective. This structure can be used to weaken a positive adjective in the same way the just 还 (hái) does above, but adding "算" (suàn) between “还” (hái) and the adjective adds a syllable and makes the expression sound more balanced and authentic.

Structure

Subject + 还 算 + Adj.

Examples

• 房间 还 算 大。The room is fairly big.
• 这 个 女 孩子还 算 漂亮。This girl is fairly beautiful.
• 我们 公司 还 算 好。Our office is fairly good.
• 工作 还 算 顺利。The work is fairly smooth.
• 这 里 还 算 安静。This place is fairly quiet.
• 这 个 城市 的 还 算 干净。This city is fairly clean.
• 我 家 的 宝宝 还 算 听话。My baby fairly does what it's told.
• 这 家 店 的 东西 还 算 便宜。The things in this shop are fairly cheap.
• 这 个 人 还 算 诚实。This person is fairly honest.
• 你 还 算 聪明。You are fairly clever.

See also

• Continuation with "hai"
• Expressing "rather" with "bijiao"
• The "zui" superlative

Sources and further reading

Books

• Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 2 (3rd ed) (pp. 302) →buy
• Exemplification of Common Sentence Patterns in Spoken Chinese 汉语口语常用句式例解 (pp. 106-7) →buy
• Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar: A Practical Guide (pp. 366) →buy