Learn Hardcore Chinese: wǒ bú tài xǐhuan pǎobù, dànshì juéde zuò yìdiǎnr yùndòng duì jiànkāng hěn hǎo. - I don’t really like running, but I think doing a bit of exercise is very good for health.

太 + Adj/Verb (usually negative):
- 太贵了。= It’s too expensive.
- 太累了。= Too tired.
In exclamations it can mean “so / really”:
- 太好了！= That’s great! / So good!
不太 + Adj/Verb means “not very / not really”:
- 不太喜欢 = don’t really like
- 不太舒服 = not very comfortable
- 不太好 = not very good

So in 不太喜欢, the pattern 不太 + verb/adjective softens the negative: “don’t really like,” not an absolute “don’t like.”

Why can the subject 我 be dropped in the second part: 但是觉得…?

In Chinese, once the subject is clear from context, it’s very common to omit it in later clauses.

Whole sentence:

我不太喜欢跑步，但是觉得做一点儿运动对健康很好。

The implied structure is:

我不太喜欢跑步，但是(我)觉得(做一点儿运动对(我的)健康很好)。

Because 我 is the speaker and already stated at the beginning, repeating 我 would sound more heavy and less natural:

我不太喜欢跑步，但是我觉得做一点儿运动对健康很好。
(Correct, but slightly more formal/emphatic.)

So dropping repeated pronouns like this is very normal and natural in Chinese.

What is the function of 觉得 here? Is it like “think” or “feel”?

觉得 (juéde) means “to feel / to think / to have the impression that” about something. It introduces your opinion or feeling:

我觉得这个菜很好吃。= I think / I feel this dish is delicious.
他觉得今天有点冷。= He feels it’s a bit cold today.

In the sentence:

觉得做一点儿运动对健康很好
= “(I) think that doing a bit of exercise is very good for (my) health.”

So you can think of 觉得 + clause as “I think that…” or “I feel that…”.

Why is it 做一点儿运动 and not just 运动一点儿?

Both are possible in some contexts, but they’re not identical, and 做一点儿运动 is the more natural choice here.

做一点儿运动
- 做 = do
- 一点儿 = a bit, a little
- 运动 = exercise
  → literally: “do a bit of exercise”
  This is a very common, natural phrase when talking about exercising for health.
运动一点儿
- 运动 is being used as a verb = to exercise
- 一点儿 is an adverbial complement of degree/amount
  → “exercise a bit” / “do a bit of exercising”
  This can work, especially in spoken Chinese, but it sounds a bit less like the general “doing some exercise is good for health” statement and more like an instruction or suggestion in some contexts.

In a general opinion sentence like this one, 做一点儿运动 is the idiomatic, neutral way to say “do a bit of exercise.”

What’s the difference between 一点儿 and 一点? And what is the 儿 doing here?

一点儿 (yìdiǎnr) and 一点 (yìdiǎn) basically mean the same thing: “a little, a bit.”

儿 (r) here is the “er” suffix (儿化), common in northern Mandarin (especially Beijing).
In many regions and in many textbooks, people just say 一点 (yìdiǎn).

Usage:

With nouns:
- 一点(儿)水 = a little water
- 一点(儿)时间 = a bit of time
- 做一点(儿)运动 = do a bit of exercise
With adjectives or adverbs:
- 再快一点(儿)。= a bit faster.
- 便宜一点(儿)吧。= Make it a bit cheaper.

So in 做一点儿运动, the 儿 does not change the grammar; it’s mainly a regional pronunciation/style feature.

What does 对 mean in 对健康很好? How does this structure work?

Here, 对 (duì) is a preposition meaning “towards / for / with regard to.”

The pattern is:

对 + noun + 很 + adjective
= “to be (very) [adj] for [noun]”

So:

对健康很好
- 对 = for / with regard to
- 健康 = health
- 很好 = (is) very good
  → “(is) very good for (your) health.”

Other similar examples:

对身体不好。= (It’s) not good for your body.
这个习惯对孩子的成长很好。= This habit is very good for children’s development.
抽烟对健康很不好。= Smoking is very bad for health.

So 对 + something + 很好/很坏/有好处/有影响 is a very useful pattern for talking about effects on something.

Why do we need 很 in 对健康很好? Can we just say 对健康好?

In modern Mandarin, when an adjective is used as the main predicate, you usually need something like 很, 真, 非常, 有点儿, etc. in front of it, unless you are making a strong contrast or emphasis.

很好 often does not literally mean “very good”; it can just be a neutral “is good.”

So:

对健康很好 = (is) good / very good for health (neutral, natural sentence).
对健康好 = also grammatically possible, but:
- It feels more emphatic or contrastive, like:
  - “(This one) is good for your health (as opposed to others that are not).”
- Or it can sound a bit bare or bookish in some contexts.

General rule for learners:

Use 很 (or another adverb) before a simple adjective predicate unless you specifically mean a strong contrast.

Is 健康 a noun (“health”) or an adjective (“healthy”) here?

In Chinese, 健康 (jiànkāng) can be both:

Noun: health
Adjective: healthy

In this sentence:

做一点儿运动对健康很好
→ here 健康 is a noun = “health.”
→ “Doing a bit of exercise is very good for (your) health.”

If you wanted to use it as an adjective, you might say:

做运动让身体更健康。= Exercising makes the body healthier.
这种生活方式很健康。= This lifestyle is very healthy.

Why doesn’t the Chinese sentence say “my health” (我的健康)?

Chinese often omits possessives like 我 / 你 / 他 when it’s obvious from context.

In English we say “my health”, but in Chinese it’s usually fine (and more natural) to just say 健康 when it clearly refers to the speaker’s (or people’s) health in general:

做一点儿运动对健康很好。
= Doing a bit of exercise is very good for health.
(understood as your/my/one’s health)

Adding 我的 is possible:

做一点儿运动对我的健康很好。

…but it sounds more specific, heavier, or slightly formal. In everyday speech, 对健康很好 is more idiomatic.

Could we change the word order and say “对健康做一点儿运动很好”?

That word order is not natural.

The original:

做一点儿运动对健康很好。
→ Subject: 做一点儿运动 (doing a bit of exercise)
→ Prepositional phrase: 对健康 (for health)
→ Predicate: 很好 (is very good)

This fits the pattern:

[Action] + 对 + [thing affected] + 很好

Putting 对健康 in front of 做一点儿运动 like:

对健康做一点儿运动很好 ❌

…makes it sound like “for the sake of health, do a bit of exercise is good”, which is not a normal structure. Native speakers would not phrase it that way.

Some natural alternatives:

做一点儿运动对健康很好。
多运动对健康有好处。
运动对健康很好。

So keep 对健康 close to 很好/有好处/有影响 rather than splitting it with the verb phrase like that.

What’s the difference between 运动 and 锻炼 in this kind of sentence?

Both relate to physical activity, but they have slightly different focuses:

运动 (yùndòng)
- as a noun: sports, exercise
- as a verb: to exercise / to do sports
- broader, can include organized sports, working out, jogging, etc.
锻炼 (duànliàn)
- verb (sometimes noun-like): to train, to exercise (the body/mind)
- emphasizes training / strengthening, especially physical training.

In this sentence:

做一点儿运动对健康很好。= Doing a bit of exercise is very good for health.

You could also say:

做一点儿锻炼对健康很好。
多锻炼对身体很好。= Exercising more is very good for the body.

Both are fine; 运动 is a bit more general and is very natural in statements about health and exercise like this.