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). As in English, intonation and facial expressions help convey the meaning. If expectations were low, 还可以 (háikěyǐ) can have the sense of "pretty darn good;" note the two contrasting examples below of the same sentence.

Examples

• 我 还 好 。 Wǒ hái hǎo. I'm OK.
• 这 个 地方 还 好 。 Zhè ge 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 ge 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 。 Nàge 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.
• 这里 的 菜 还 可以 。 Zhèlǐ de cài hái kěyǐ. (Said with the right expression) The food here is not bad at all. (i.e., we were not expecting much, but the food is really pretty good.)
• 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. (算 suàn's basic meaning is to "calculate," but here it means "to consider to be.") 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。Fángjiān hái suàn dà.The room is fairly big.
• 这 个 女 孩子还 算 漂亮。Zhè ge nǚ háizi hái suàn piàoliang.This girl is fairly beautiful.
• 我们 公司 还 算 好。Wǒmen gōngsī hái suàn hǎo.Our office is fairly good.
• 工作 还 算 顺利。Gōngzuò hái suàn shùnlì.The work is fairly smooth.
• 这 里 还 算 安静。Zhèlǐ hái suàn ānjìng.This place is fairly quiet.
• 这 个 城市 的 还 算 干净。Zhè ge chéngshì de hái suàn gānjìng.This city is fairly clean.
• 我 家 的 宝宝 还 算 听话。Wǒjiā de bǎobǎo hái suàn tīnghuà.My baby fairly does what it's told.
• 这 家 店 的 东西 还 算 便宜。Zhè jiā diàn de dōngxī hái suàn piányí.The things in this shop are fairly cheap.
• 这 个 人 还 算 诚实。Zhè ge rén hái suàn chéngshí.This person is fairly honest.
• 你 还 算 聪明。Nǐ hái suàn cōngming.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