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  2. <p>Whenever you want to imply that something is &quot;good,&quot; but also kind of &quot;meh,&quot; you can use 还 (hái) in front of the &quot;good&quot; adjective.</p>
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  3. <h2 id="commonly-used-expressions">Commonly Used Expressions</h2>
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  4. <p>Besides expressing <a href="Continuation_with_&quot;hai&quot;" title="wikilink">continuation</a>, 还 (hái) can also be used to weaken positive adjectives. Used with the adjective &quot;good,&quot; this is similar to saying &quot;fairly good&quot; or &quot;pretty good&quot; in English. It's also sometimes used by a speaker to be more modest. Below are some of the most common adjectives that get &quot;toned down&quot; by 还 (hái) in this structure.</p>
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  5. <h3 id="structure">Structure</h3>
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  6. <div class="jiegou">
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  7. <p>Subj. + 还 + 好 / 可以 / 行 / 不错</p>
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  8. </div>
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  9. <p>In this pattern, 好 (hǎo), 可以 (kěyǐ), 行 (xíng), and 不错 (bùcuò) combined with 还 ()hái can all be taken to mean &quot;pretty good&quot; or &quot;all right&quot; or &quot;decent&quot; (but also kind of <em>meh</em>... not <em>great</em>). As in English, intonation and facial expressions help convey the meaning. If expectations were already low to begin with, 还可以 (hái kěyǐ) can have the sense of &quot;pretty darn good;&quot; it all depends on context and tone of voice.</p>
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  10. <h3 id="examples">Examples</h3>
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  11. <div class="liju">
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  12. <ul>
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  13. <li>我 <em>还 好</em>。 <span class="pinyin">Wǒ <em>hái hǎo</em>.</span><span class="trans">I'm OK.</span></li>
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  14. <li>爸爸 做 的 菜 <em>还 可以</em>。<span class="pinyin">Bàba zuò de cài <em>hái kěyǐ</em>.</span><span class="trans">The food that dad cooks is OK.</span></li>
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  15. <li>我们 老板 <em>还 不错</em>。<span class="pinyin">Wǒmen lǎobǎn <em>hái bùcuò</em>.</span><span class="trans">Our boss is not too bad.</span></li>
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  16. <li>这 家 店 <em>还 行</em>，不太 贵。<span class="pinyin">Zhè jià diàn <em>hái xíng</em>, bù tài guì.</span><span class="trans">This shop is OK. It's not too expensive.</span></li>
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  17. <li>我 男朋友 的 工资 <em>还 可以</em>。<span class="pinyin">Wǒ nánpéngyou de gōngzī <em>hái kěyǐ</em>.</span><span class="trans">My boyfriend's salary is OK.</span></li>
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  18. <li>新 的 办公室 <em>还 不错</em>。<span class="pinyin">Xīn de bàngōngshì <em>hái bùcuò</em>.</span><span class="trans">The new office is OK.</span></li>
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  19. <li>我 觉得 这里 的 菜 <em>还 可以</em>，没有 那么 难吃。<span class="pinyin">Wǒ juéde zhèlǐ de cài <em>hái kěyǐ</em>, méiyǒu nàme nánchī.</span><span class="trans">I think the food here is OK, it is not too bad-tasting.</span></li>
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  20. <li>这 个 牌子 <em>还 不错</em>，很 多 年轻 人 喜欢。<span class="pinyin">Zhège páizi <em>hái bùcuò</em>，hěn duō niánqīng rén xǐhuan.</span><span class="trans">This brand is not too bad. Many young people like it.</span></li>
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  21. <li>房子 <em>还 可以</em>，但是 有 点 贵。<span class="pinyin">Fángzi <em>hái kěyǐ</em>, dànshì yǒudiǎn guì.</span><span class="trans">The apartment is not too bad, but it is a bit expensive.</span></li>
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  22. </ul>
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  23. </div>
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  24. <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>
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  25. <ul>
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  26. <li><a href="Continuation_with_&quot;hai&quot;" title="wikilink">Continuation with &quot;hai&quot;</a></li>
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  27. <li><a href="Expressing_&quot;rather&quot;_with_&quot;bijiao&quot;" title="wikilink">Expressing &quot;rather&quot; with &quot;bijiao&quot;</a></li>
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  28. <li><a href="The_&quot;zui&quot;_superlative" title="wikilink">The &quot;zui&quot; superlative</a></li>
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  29. </ul>
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  30. <h2 id="sources-and-further-reading">Sources and further reading</h2>
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  31. <h3 id="books">Books</h3>
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  32. <ul>
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  33. <li><a href="Integrated_Chinese:_Level_1,_Part_2_(3rd_ed)" title="wikilink">Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 2 (3rd ed)</a> (pp. 302) <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0887276709/ref%3das_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=allset-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=217145&amp;creative=399369&amp;creativeASIN=0887276709">→buy</a></li>
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  34. <li><a href="Exemplification_of_Common_Sentence_Patterns_in_Spoken_Chinese_汉语口语常用句式例解" title="wikilink">Exemplification of Common Sentence Patterns in Spoken Chinese 汉语口语常用句式例解</a> (pp. 106-7) <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Exemplification-Common-Sentence-Patterns-Chinese/dp/7301075405">→buy</a></li>
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  35. <li><a href="Modern_Mandarin_Chinese_Grammar:_A_Practical_Guide" title="wikilink">Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar: A Practical Guide</a> (pp. 366) <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0415700108?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=allset-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0415700108">→buy</a></li>
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  36. </ul>
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  37. <p>       </p>
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  38. <p><a href="Category:A2_grammar_points" title="wikilink">Category:A2 grammar points</a></p>
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