Here is one of the most productive little word-factories in Chinese: put 好 (hǎo, "good") in front of a sense verb and you mint an adjective meaning "good/nice to VERB." 好吃 (hǎochī) = "good to eat" → tasty; 好看 (hǎokàn) = "good to look at" → good-looking; 好听 (hǎotīng) = "good to hear" → pleasant-sounding. English needs a whole phrase ("nice to eat," "good to watch"); Chinese fuses it into a single, stress-free adjective. Learn the pattern, not the words one by one, and you can generate dozens.
The 好 + verb pattern: "nice to VERB"
The result is one adjective, not "好 + a separate verb." That matters because it then behaves like any stative verb: it predicates directly, props up with 很, and takes no 是. 这个菜很好吃 — "this dish is very tasty." The verb inside tells you which sense is being judged.
| 好 + verb | Sense verb | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 好吃 (hǎochī) | 吃 eat | tasty (of food) |
| 好喝 (hǎohē) | 喝 drink | tasty (of drinks) |
| 好看 (hǎokàn) | 看 look/watch | good-looking; good (of a film/book) |
| 好听 (hǎotīng) | 听 listen | pleasant to hear (of music/voice) |
| 好玩 (hǎowán) | 玩 play | fun (of a place/activity) |
| 好用 (hǎoyòng) | 用 use | handy, works well |
| 好闻 (hǎowén) | 闻 smell | nice-smelling |
这个菜真好吃，你尝尝。
zhè ge cài zhēn hǎochī, nǐ chángchang
This dish is really tasty, have a taste. — 好吃 as a single adjective (真 = really).
那部电影很好看。
nà bù diànyǐng hěn hǎokàn
That film is really good. — 好看 covers 'good to watch,' not just 'good-looking.'
这首歌很好听。
zhè shǒu gē hěn hǎotīng
This song is lovely. — 好听 = pleasant to the ear.
这个牌子的手机很好用。
zhè ge páizi de shǒujī hěn hǎoyòng
This brand of phone is really handy. — 好用 = good/easy to use.
难 + verb: the negative twin
Swap 好 for 难 (nán, "difficult") and you get the opposite: 难吃 (nánchī) "bad-tasting," 难看 (nánkàn) "ugly / bad (of a film)," 难听 (nántīng) "unpleasant to hear," 难闻 (nánwén) "smelly." It's a clean, parallel pair — the "yuck" to 好's "yum." (Note that 好's plain antonym is 坏, but for the sensory "bad to VERB" adjectives the partner is 难.)
药很难吃，可是对身体好。
yào hěn nánchī, kěshì duì shēntǐ hǎo
The medicine tastes awful, but it's good for you. — 难吃 = bad-tasting.
他今天穿得很难看。
tā jīntiān chuān de hěn nánkàn
He's dressed terribly today. — 难看 in a 得 complement (穿得很难看).
这个音乐太难听了。
zhè ge yīnyuè tài nántīng le
This music is horrible to listen to. — 难听 with 太…了.
A second sense: 好 + verb = "easy to"
The very same 好 + verb frame has a second reading: "easy to VERB." 好找 (hǎo zhǎo) = "easy to find," 好记 (hǎojì) = "easy to remember," 好写 (hǎo xiě) = "easy to write." Its negative twin is again 难: 难找 "hard to find," 难懂 "hard to understand." Context tells you which reading is meant — a place is 好玩 (fun) but an address is 好找 (easy to find).
你家很好找，我一下就到了。
nǐ jiā hěn hǎo zhǎo, wǒ yíxià jiù dào le
Your place was easy to find — I got here in no time. — 好找 = easy to find.
这个字很难写。
zhè ge zì hěn nán xiě
This character is hard to write. — 难写 = hard to write.
Watch the tone: hǎochī vs hàochī
One genuine trap has no shortcut — you simply have to know it. Read with third-tone 好 (hǎo), 好吃 means "tasty." Read with fourth-tone 好 (hào) — the verb "to be fond of" — 好吃 (hàochī) means "greedy, fond of eating." Same characters, opposite spirit. The tasty adjective is always hǎochī; keep the third tone and you're safe.
这家饭馆的菜很好吃。
zhè jiā fànguǎn de cài hěn hǎochī
The food at this restaurant is delicious. — hǎochī (3rd tone) = tasty.
Common Mistakes
1. Putting the degree word inside the compound. 好吃 is one adjective; 很 (or 太, 真) goes in front of the whole thing.
❌ 这个菜好很吃。
Incorrect — the degree word precedes the whole adjective: 很好吃.
✅ 这个菜很好吃。
zhè ge cài hěn hǎochī
This dish is very tasty. — 很 sits before 好吃.
2. Using 坏 for bad-tasting. 坏 means "broken/spoiled/rotten," not "bad-tasting"; use 难吃 or 不好吃.
❌ 这个汤很坏。
Wrong sense — 坏 means spoiled/broken; 'tastes bad' is 难喝 / 不好喝.
✅ 这个汤很难喝。
zhè ge tāng hěn nánhē
This soup tastes bad. — 难喝 for an unpleasant drink.
3. Mismatching the sense verb. A film is watched, so it's 好看, not 好吃.
❌ 这部电影很好吃。
Wrong verb — a film is watched: 这部电影很好看.
✅ 这部电影很好看。
zhè bù diànyǐng hěn hǎokàn
This film is really good. — 好看 matches 看 (watch).
4. Negating with 不 where 难 is idiomatic. Both 不好吃 and 难吃 exist, but for a strong "yuck" the natural word is 难吃.
❌ 这个药很不好。
Vague — for 'tastes awful' say 很难吃; 很不好 just means 'no good' in general.
✅ 这个药很难吃。
zhè ge yào hěn nánchī
This medicine tastes awful. — 难吃 is the idiomatic 'bad-tasting.'
Key Takeaways
- 好 + [sense verb] makes a single adjective "nice to VERB": 好吃 (tasty), 好喝, 好看, 好听, 好玩, 好用.
- Treat it as one adjective — predicate with 很, put the degree word in front: 很好吃, never *好很吃.
- 难 + [verb] is the sensory opposite: 难吃, 难看, 难听, 难闻.
- A second reading of 好 + verb is "easy to": 好找 (easy to find), 好记 (easy to remember); 难找 = hard to find.
- Mind the tone: hǎochī (3rd) = tasty; hàochī (4th) = greedy.
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- Adjectives Are Stative Verbs (No 是)HSK 1 — A Chinese adjective is a kind of verb — it predicates on its own, with NO copula 是 (shì). 她很高 'she is tall', 天气很好 'the weather is good', 这个太贵了 'this is too expensive' — never *她是高. 高 already means 'to be tall', so 是 has no job; negate with 不 (不高), not 没.
- The Default 很 (Linking hěn)HSK 1 — A plain predicate adjective normally takes an unstressed 很 (hěn) that does NOT mean 'very' — it is a neutral linker that makes the description sound complete: 我很好 'I'm fine', 他很高 'he's tall'.
- Common Antonym PairsHSK 1 — Chinese adjectives cluster in memorable opposites — 大/小, 高/矮, 长/短, 多/少, 快/慢, 新/旧, 贵/便宜 — and many single characters double as the dimension in 多 + adjective questions (多大, 多长), so learning the pair unlocks the question too.