Moderating positive adjectives with "hai"
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Keywords
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.
Contents
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 。 I'm OK.
- 这 个 地方 还 好 。 This place is OK.
- 我 觉得 还 好 ， 没有 那么 难吃 。 I think it's OK, it is not too bad-tasting.
- 啤酒 还 行 。 Beer is decent.
- 这 个 店 的 衣服 还 行 。 The clothes in this shop are alright.
- 颜色 还 行 。 The color is OK.
- 那 个 学校 还 可以 。 That school is so-so.
- 这里 的 菜 还 可以 。 The food here is so-so.
- 这里 的 菜 还 可以 。 (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 。 The apartment is not too bad, but it is a bit expensive.
- 我们 老板 还 不错 。 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。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.
