Of course [好 (hǎo)](好 "wikilink") means "good." But it can also be
used to express that something is "easy to do" or "good to do." And it
is quite... *easy to do*! All you need to do is place a 好 (hǎo) before
a [verb](verb "wikilink").

General Verbs
-------------

Just as 难 (nán) can be used to indicate that it's [hard to do
something](Expressing_"difficult"_with_"nan" "wikilink"), 好 (hǎo) can
also come before verbs to indicate that something is *easy to do.*

### Structure

The simple form is just:

<div class="jiegou">
好 + Verb

</div>
If you want to make a sentence out of it:

<div class="jiegou">
Subj. + (很) 好 + Verb

</div>
### Examples

<div class="liju">
-   这 个 词 的 意思 很 <em>好懂</em>。<span class="pinyin">Zhège cí de
    yìsi hěn <em>hǎo dǒng</em>.</span><span class="trans">The meaning of
    this word is easy to understand.</span>
-   这 个 汉字 很 <em>好写</em>。<span class="pinyin">Zhège Hànzì hěn
    <em>hǎo xiě</em>.</span><span class="trans">This Chinese character
    is easy to write.</span>
-   三明治 很 <em>好做</em>。<span class="pinyin">Sānmíngzhì hěn <em>hǎo
    zuò</em>.</span><span class="trans">Sandwiches are easy to
    make.</span>
-   苹果 手机 现在 很 <em>好买</em>。 <span class="pinyin">Píngguǒ
    shǒujī xiànzài hěn <em>hǎo
    mǎi</em>.</span><span class="trans">iPhones are easy to buy
    now.</span>
-   这 个 笔 很 <em>好用</em>。<span class="pinyin">Zhège bǐ hěn <em>hǎo
    yòng</em>.</span><span class="trans">This pen is easy to use.</span>

</div>
Exceptions
----------

好 (hǎo) can also be attached to "sense verbs" (e.g. "look," "taste,"
"smell," etc.) to indicate that something is *'good* to do'' (rather
than "*easy* to do").

There's a limited number of these, but some of them are super common, so
just memorize them as exceptions:

<div class="liju">
-   好吃 <span class="pinyin">hǎochī</span><span class="trans">good to
    taste, good to eat, delicious</span>
-   好喝 <span class="pinyin">hǎohē</span><span class="trans">good to
    taste, good to drink</span>
-   好看 <span class="pinyin">hǎokàn </span><span class="trans">good to
    look at, good-looking, attractive</span>
-   好听 <span class="pinyin">hǎotīng</span><span class="trans">good to
    listen to, pleasant to listen to, good-sounding</span>
-   好闻 <span class="pinyin">hǎowén</span><span class="trans">good to
    smell, smells good, good-smelling</span>

</div>
The word for "fun" in Chinese is also of this form, even though it's not
a sense verb:

<div class="liju">
-   好玩
    <span class="pinyin">hǎowán</span><span class="trans">fun</span>

</div>
### Examples

<div class="liju">
-   这 首 歌 很 <em>好听</em> 。 <span class="pinyin">Zhè shǒu gē hěn
    <em>hǎotīng</em>.</span><span class="trans">This song is
    great.</span>
-   这 种 茶 很 <em>好闻</em> 。<span class="pinyin">Zhè zhǒng chá hěn
    <em>hǎowén</em>.</span> <span class="trans">This kind of tea smells
    good.</span>
-   你 的 新 包 很 <em>好看</em> 。<span class="pinyin">Nǐ de xīn bāo
    hěn <em>hǎokàn</em>.</span><span class="trans">Your new bag looks
    good.</span>
-   妈妈 做 的 菜 很 <em>好吃</em> 。<span class="pinyin">Māma zuò de
    cài hěn <em>hǎochī</em>.</span> <span class="trans">The food mom
    makes is delicious.</span>
-   我 觉得 上海 很 <em>好玩</em> 。 <span class="pinyin">Wǒ juéde
    Shànghǎi hěn <em>hǎowán</em>.</span><span class="trans">I think
    Shanghai is a lot of fun.</span>

</div>
See also
--------

-   [Expressing "difficult" with
    "nan"](Expressing_"difficult"_with_"nan" "wikilink")
-   [Expressing Difficulty with "hao (bu)
    rongyi"](Expressing_Difficulty_with_"hao_(bu)_rongyi" "wikilink")
-   [Expressing purpose with
    "haorang"](Expressing_purpose_with_"haorang" "wikilink")
    (advanced article)

Sources and further reading
---------------------------

### Books

-   [Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 2
    (3rd ed)](Integrated_Chinese:_Level_1,_Part_2_(3rd_ed) "wikilink") (p.
    232)
    [→buy](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0887276709/ref%3das_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=allset-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399369&creativeASIN=0887276709)
-   [卓越汉语－公司实战篇](卓越汉语－公司实战篇 "wikilink") (p. 52)
    [→buy](http://www.amazon.cn/%E5%8D%93%E8%B6%8A%E6%B1%89%E8%AF%AD-%E5%85%AC%E5%8F%B8%E5%AE%9E%E6%88%98%E7%AF%87-%E8%83%A1%E7%81%B5%E5%9D%87/dp/B003QZWQ6M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1347863170&sr=8-1)

[Category:A2 grammar points](Category:A2_grammar_points "wikilink")