Expressing purpose with "hao"

好 (hǎo) can mean "in order to or "for the sake of" when coming before a verb phrase, and therefore expresses the purpose. You might think of it as a more advanced version of the "easy to [verb]" 好.

Structure

Action ，好 + Purpose

Examples

• 她 睡前 常常 喝 牛奶 ，好 入睡 。Tā shuì qián chángcháng hē niúnǎi, hǎo rùshuì.She often drinks milk before bedtime to help her fall asleep.
• 老师 ，请 说 慢 点儿 ，我们 好 做 笔记 。Lǎoshī, qǐng shuō màn diǎnr, wǒmen hǎo zuò bǐjì.Teacher, you need to speak a little slower so that we can take notes.
• 请 把 车 停 到 里面 ，好 让 别人 走路 。Qǐng bǎ chē tíng dào lǐmiàn, hǎo ràng biérén zǒulù.Please park the car inside so that other people can walk here.
• 他 学习 非常 努力，好 考 个 好 大学。Tā xuéxí fēicháng nǔlì, hǎo kǎo gè hǎo dàxué.He is studying very hard so that he can get into a good university.
• 她 在 学 中文，好 听得懂 别人 说 什么。Tā zàixué zhōngwén, hǎo tīng de dǒng biérén shuō shénme.She is learning Chinese so that she can understand what people say.
• 小明 今天 把 自己 打扮 得 很 帅气 ，好 给 别人 留 一个 好 印象。Xiǎo Míng jīntiān bǎ zìjǐ dǎbàn de hěn shuàiqì, hǎo gěi biérén liú yī gè hǎo yìnxiàng.Xiao Ming has dressed himself up very handsomely today to give others a good impression of him.
• 我 准备 了 很多 东西，这样 好 让 客户 满意。Wǒ gěi suǒyǒu de wénjiàn fēn le lèi, zhèyàng hǎo róngyì zhǎodào.I've sorted all the documents into categories so that they're easy to find.
• 我 已经 定 好了 闹钟，好 抢 票。Wǒ yǐjīng dìnghǎo le nàozhōng, hǎo qiǎng piào.I've already set my alarm clock so that I can buy tickets early before they sell out.
• 公司 整理 了 最近 几个 月 的 资金 记录，好 制定 下一 季度 的 计划。Gōngsī zhěnglǐ le zuìjìn jǐgè yuè de zījīn jìlù, hǎo zhìdìng xià yī jìdù de jìhuà.The company has compiled the financial records of the last few months in order to make a plan for the next quarter.
• 导游 给 每个人 都 发了 一个 帽子，这样 好 找到 每个人。Dǎoyóu gěi měi gè rén dōu fā le yī gè màozi, zhèyàng hǎo zhǎodào měi gè rén.The tour guide has given everyone a hat so that it's easy to find everyone.

See also

• Easy to do something
• Result complement "-hao"
• "lai" used to connect two verb phrases

Sources and Further Reading

Books

• 40 Lessons for Basic Chinese Course (基础汉语40课下册) (pp. 569 ) [ →buy]

HSK5