▎好, hǎo, as in 好＋Verb, nice to, easy to (1)

 

Function

(1) When 好 or 難 combines with sense verbs, they become single words, i.e., lexicalized.

 

好吃hǎochī, nice to eat	難吃nánchī, not nice to eat
好喝hǎohē, nice to drink	難喝nánhē, not nice to drink
好看hǎokàn, nice-looking	難看nánkàn, not nice-looking, ugly
好聽hǎotīng, nice to listen to	難聽nántīng, not nice to listen to

(2) When they combine with action verbs, 好 means ‘easy to’ and 難 ‘difficult/hard to’, i.e., parts of special constructions.

 

好學hǎo xué, easy to learn	難學nán xué, hard to learn
好寫hǎo xiě, easy to write	難寫nán xiě, hard to write
好做hǎo zuò, easy to do	難做nán zuò, hard to do
好找hǎo zhǎo, easy to find	難找nán zhǎo, hard to find

1 日本菜好吃也好看。

Rìběn cài hǎochī yě hǎokàn.

Japanese food is both delicious and visually pleasing.

2 好工作很難找。

Hǎo gōngzuò hěn nán zhǎo.

Finding a good job is difficult.

3 這首歌好聽也好唱。

Zhè shǒu gē hǎotīng yě hǎo chàng.

This song is both nice to listen to and easy to sing.

 

Structures Intensification adverbs such as 很 ‘very’ can modify both structures given above.

1 我媽媽做的菜很好吃。

Wǒ māma zuò de cài hěn hǎochī.

The food my mom makes is (very) delicious.

2 有人覺得中文很難學。

Yǒu rén juéde Zhōngwén hěn nán xué.

Some people think that Chinese is (very) hard to learn.

Negation：

(1) With sense verbs:

1 便宜的咖啡不好喝。

Piányí de kāfēi bù hǎohē.

Cheap coffee doesn’t taste good.

2 學校餐廳的菜不難吃。

Xuéxiào cāntīng de cài bù nánchī.

School cafeteria food tastes okay.

3 這首歌，唱得太慢不好聽。

Zhè shǒu gē, chàng de tài màn bù hǎotīng.

This song does not sound nice if sung too slowly.

(2) With action verbs:

1 這家店賣的小籠包不好做。

Zhè jiā diàn mài de xiǎolóngbāo bù hǎo zuò.

The steamed dumplings sold at this shop are hard to make.

2 老師常常說中文不難學。

Lǎoshī chángcháng shuō Zhōngwén bù nán xué.

The teacher often says that Chinese is not difficult to learn.

3 學校附近便宜的套房不好找。

Xuéxiào fùjìn piányí de tàofáng bù hǎo zhǎo.

Suites near the school that are cheap to rent are hard to find.

Questions：

(1) With sense verbs:

1 旅館老闆買的水果好吃嗎？

Lǚguǎn lǎobǎn mǎi de shuǐguǒ hǎochī ma?

Does the fruit bought by the hotel owner taste good?

2 你覺得那個電影好不好看？

Nǐ juéde nà ge diànyǐng hǎo bù hǎokàn?

Do you think that movie was good or bad?

3 點烏龍茶的那個先生唱歌唱得好聽嗎？

Diǎn Wūlóng chá de nà ge xiānshēng chànggē chàng de hǎotīng ma?

Does the man who ordered Oolong tea sing well?

(2) With action verbs:

1 說中文的工作在你的國家好找嗎？

Shuō Zhōngwén de gōngzuò zài nǐ de guójiā hǎo zhǎo ma?

Are jobs in which you speak Chinese easy to find in your country?

2 又大又貴的房子好不好賣？

Yòu dà yòu guì de fángzi hǎo bù hǎo mài?

Are big and expensive houses easy to sell?

3 老師今天教的甜點難不難學？

Lǎoshī jīntiān jiāo de tiándiǎn nán bù nán xué?

Are the desserts that the teacher taught us (to make) today difficult to make?