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.
Subj. + 还 好
Subj. + 还 可以
Subj. + 还 行
Subj. + 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.
- 我们 老板 还 不错。 Our boss is not too bad.
- 我 觉得 这里 的 菜 还 可以 ， 没有 那么 难吃。 I think the food here is OK, it is not too bad-tasting.
- 这件 衣服 还 行，不 太 贵。 The piece of clothes is OK.Not too expensive.
- 房子 还 不错 ，但是 有 点 贵。 The apartment is not too bad, but it is a bit expensive.
“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
Subj. + 还 算 + Adj.
Examples
- 我 家 的 宝宝 还 算 听话。My baby fairly does what it's told.
- 这 个 城市 的 还 算 干净。This city is fairly clean.
- 这 里 还 算 安静。This place is fairly quiet.
- 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.
