Difference between revisions of "Moderating positive adjectives with "hai""

Revision as of 06:04, 19 March 2016

Level

A2 / HSK2
Level

A2
Level

HSK2
Similar to
- Expressing "and also" with "hai" (A2)
- Superlative "zui" (A2)
- Continuation with "hai" (B1)
- Advanced uses of "hai" (B2)
Similar to
- Continuation with "hai" (HSK2)
- Expressing "and also" with "hai" (HSK2)
- Superlative "zui" (HSK2)
- Advanced uses of "hai" (HSK5)
Used for

Adding more explanation, Expressing quality
Keywords

还

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.

Subj. + 还 + 好 / 可以 / 行 / 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 already low to begin with, 还可以 (hái kěyǐ) can have the sense of "pretty darn good"; it all depends on context and tone of voice.

Examples

我还好。 Wǒ hái hǎo. I'm OK.
爸爸做的菜还可以。 Bàba zuò de cài hái kěyǐ. The food that dad cooks is OK.
我们老板还不错。Wǒmen lǎobǎn hái bùcuò. Our boss is not too bad.
这家店还行，不太贵。Zhè jià diàn hái xíng, bù tài guì. This shop is OK. It's not too expensive.
我男朋友的收入还可以。Wǒ nánpéngyou de shōurù hái kěyǐ. My boyfriend's salary is OK.
新的办公室还不错。Xīn de bàngōngshì hái bùcuò. The new office is OK.
我觉得这里的菜还可以，没有那么难吃。 Wǒ juéde zhèlǐ de cài hái kěyǐ, méiyǒu nàme nánchī. I think the food here is OK, it is not too bad-tasting.
这个牌子还不错，很多年轻人喜欢。Zhè ge páizi hái bùcuò，hěn duō niánqīngrén xǐhuan. This brand is not too bad. Many young people like it.
房子还可以，但是有点贵。Fángzi hái kěyǐ, dànshì yǒu diǎn guì.The apartment is not too bad, but it is a bit expensive.
这个人身高还行，可是有点胖。Zhège rén shēngāo hái xíng, kěshì yǒudiǎn pàng. This guy's height is OK, but he's a little fat.

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

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-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 (hái kěyǐ) can have the sense of "pretty darn good"; note the two contrasting examples below of the same sentence.
+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 already low to begin with, 还可以 (hái kěyǐ) can have the sense of "pretty darn good"; it all depends on context and tone of voice.
 === Examples ===