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. It's also sometimes used by a speaker to be more modest. 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 há 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.

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