Using "hao" to mean "easy"

Using 好 (hǎo) to express that something is "easy to do" or "good to do" is quite easy to do! All you need is placing a "好" before a verb.

General Verbs

Just as 难 (nán) can be used to indicate that it's hard to do something, 好 (hǎo) can be attached to verbs, except sensitive words, to indicate that something is easy to do. The structure is, simply:

Structure

The simple form is just:

好 + Verb

I you want to make a sentence out of it:

Subject + (很) 好 + Verb

Examples

• 好懂 Easy to understand
• 这 本 书 很 好懂。 This book is easy to understand.
• 好学 Easy to write
• 这 个 汉子 很 好写。 This Chinese character is easy to write.
• 好做 Easy to do, easy to make
• 三明治 很 好做。 Sandwiches are easy to make.
• 好买 Easy to buy (implying it's easy to find and buy).
• 这 个 东西 现在 很 好买。 This thing is easy to buy.

Exceptions

好 (hǎo) can also be attached to "sense verbs" (e.g. "look," "taste," "smell," etc.) to indicate that something is 'good to do (rather than "easy to do").

There's a limited number of these, but some of them are super common, so just memorize them as exceptions:

• 好吃 good to taste, good to eat, delicious
• 好看 good to look at, good-looking, attractive
• 好听 good to listen to, pleasant to listen to, good-sounding
• 好闻 good to smell, smells good, good-smelling

The word for "fun" in Chinese is also of this form, even though it's not a sense verb:

• 好玩 (hǎo wán) fun

Examples

• 这 首 歌 很 好听。 This song is great.
• 这 只 小 猫 很 好闻。 This little cat smells good.
• 这 件 衣服 很 好看。 This piece of clothing looks good.
• 你 做 的 菜 很 好吃。 The food you make is delicious.
• 我 觉得 上海很 好玩。 I think Shanghai is a lot of fun.

See also

• Difficult to do something
• Expressing Difficulty with "hao (bu) rongyi"
• Expressing purpose with "haorang" (advanced article)

Sources and further reading

Books

• Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 2 (3rd ed) (p. 232) →buy
• 卓越汉语－公司实战篇 (p. 52) →buy