ZHIZHI 知止 · LEARN CHINESE DAILY

good; well

hǎo
6 strokes · 女 (woman) + 子 (child) — mother and child together · HSK 1

Where 好 comes from

好 sets a woman 女 beside a child 子 and calls the pairing 'good' — the script's most quoted etymology. Whether it pictured motherhood, family completeness, or simply two treasured things, the verdict stuck: this, says the character, is what good looks like.

好 in Chinese culture

好 is Chinese's universal thumbs-up: 好的 okay, 好吃 delicious, 好看 good-looking, 你好 hello. Doubled expectations live in 好好学习,天天向上 'study well, rise daily' — the classroom slogan generations grew up under. Read hào (4th tone) it becomes 'to be fond of': 爱好 hobby.

Example

很好 hěn hǎo — very good

今天天气真好!
Jīntiān tiānqì zhēn hǎo!
The weather is great today!

How to remember it

Mother 女 and child 子 side by side — everything GOOD in one frame.

好 changes meaning by tone: hǎo 'good' vs hào 'to love' — 好学 can mean 'easy to learn' or 'loves learning', a pun teachers exploit mercilessly.

Same sound, different tones

1st hāo
wormwood
2nd háo
tiny bit
3rd hǎo
good
4th hào
number

Words unlocked by 好

你好 nǐ hǎo
hello
好吃 hǎochī
delicious
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