好
good; fine; okay
hǎo
What does 好 mean?
好 (hǎo) is the all-purpose 'good' of Mandarin and one of the first characters every learner meets. As an adjective it describes anything positive — quality, character, weather, taste: 好书 (good book), 好人 (good person), 好天气 (good weather). As a standalone reply it means 'okay / sure / will do' — the way English uses 'sounds good.'
It also appears in greetings (你好 = 'hi'), as an intensifier before adjectives meaning 'very / so' (好大 = 'so big,' 好漂亮 = 'so pretty'), and as a resultative complement on verbs meaning 'done / completed' (写好了 = 'finished writing'). One quirk: with a second 3rd tone after it (like 你好), 好 keeps its written tone mark but is pronounced as a 'half-third' tone. 好 is the workhorse word for approval, agreement, and quality in Chinese.
Character breakdown
good. The character combines 女 (woman) and 子 (child) — traditionally read as 'a woman with her child is a good thing.'
Memory hook: 女 (woman) + 子 (child) = 好 — a mother with her child is the picture of 'good.'
Example sentences
你好！
Nǐ hǎo!
Hi!
neutral
这本书很好。
Zhè běn shū hěn hǎo.
This book is very good.
neutral
好的，没问题。
Hǎo de, méi wèntí.
Okay, no problem.
spoken
今天天气好。
Jīntiān tiānqì hǎo.
The weather is nice today.
spoken
Common phrases with 好
Synonyms
不错 literally 'not bad,' used like 'pretty good' — a notch below 好 in enthusiasm, often safer with strangers or when grading something modestly. Native speakers use 不错 a lot to mean 'quite good.'
棒 means 'awesome / excellent,' more colloquial and energetic than 好. 你真棒 = 'you're awesome.' 好 is neutral; 棒 carries praise.
Don't confuse 好 with
FAQ
Acquire by listening
Hear 好 in real Chinese, not in a flashcard.
Fluentide picks the next news episode at your level, so this word shows up again and again in real sentences. Pinyin, translation, and the episode where you heard it — every time. Free to start, no card.