Questions & Answers about wǒ hěn hǎo.
Usually don’t. 我好 by itself sounds odd or contrastive (like “I’m the one who’s good” or “I am indeed good”). Common patterns:
- Natural: 我很好 (I’m fine), 我真好 (I’m really good), 我非常好 (I’m excellent).
- Contrastive/emphatic without a degree word: 我好 can appear in special contexts, but it’s not the neutral “I’m fine.”
- Note: 好 can be an adverb meaning “so/very” before some adjectives, e.g., 我好累 = “I’m so tired,” but that’s a different use and doesn’t license bare 我好.
Underlying tones are third–third–third: wǒ hěn hǎo. With third-tone sandhi:
- When a 3rd tone is followed by another 3rd tone, the first becomes 2nd.
- So 我很 becomes wó hén, and 好 stays 3rd.
- Natural pronunciation: wó hén hǎo (2–2–3).
In positive statements, don’t use 是 before an adjectival predicate. But in negation/softening, 不是 often appears before a degree phrase:
- 我不是很好。 = “I’m not very well.” (softer than 我不好)
- Think of it as “It’s not the case that (I am) very good,” a set pattern in Chinese.
Several options with different strengths:
- 我不好。 = I’m not well. (direct/strong)
- 我不太好。 = I’m not so well. (mild)
- 我不是很好。 = I’m not very well. (mild, common)
- 我还好。 = I’m okay/so-so. (neutral)
- 我不怎么好。 = I’m not doing so great. (somewhat negative)
Yes, but it changes the meaning to a change of state:
- 我好了。 = “I’m better now” / “I’m ready now.” It implies improvement or completion.
- 我很好了。 = “I’m quite good now (better than before).”
- Plain 我很好 does not imply any change; it’s just your current state.
No. When an adjective is the predicate, don’t add 的: 我很好 is correct. Use 的 when the adjective modifies a noun:
- 很好的朋友 = a very good friend.
Common ones, from stronger to milder:
- 非常 (extremely): 我非常好。
- 特别 (especially): 我特别好。
- 挺…的 (quite): 我挺好的。
- 真 (really): 我真好。
- 太…了 (too/so …): 我太好了! (exclamatory)
- Slight/negative tilt: 有点(儿) (a bit): not used for positive self-praise; e.g., 我有点儿累.
Typical order is Subject + (Time) + (Place) + Degree + Adjective.
- 我今天很好。 (I’m very well today.)
- 我在家很好。 (I’m fine at home—context needed.)
- 我也很好。 (I’m also fine.)
- Combine: 我今天也很好。
你好吗? exists but is relatively formal/textbooky and not common among close friends. More natural small talk includes:
- 最近怎么样? / 最近还好吗? (How have you been lately?)
- Answers: 我很好。你呢? / 还行。你呢? / 挺好的。你呢?
Use 你呢?
- 我很好。你呢? = I’m fine. And you?
Don’t. 好吃 means “tasty/delicious,” so 我很好吃 literally means “I am very tasty” (!). Use:
- 我很能吃。 (I can really eat / have a big appetite.)
- 我很会吃。 (I’m good at eating/know good food.)
- 我很爱吃。 (I love to eat.)
Depending on tone and modesty:
- Neutral/positive: 挺好的。/ 不错。/ 还可以。/ 还行。
- Very positive: 非常好。/ 特别好。
- So-so: 马马虎虎。/ 一般般。
- If you want to soften a negative: 不太好。/ 不是很好。