hái

Moderating positive adjectives with "hai"

还 in front of a positive adjective damps it down to "reasonably" or "alright".

还 + Adj.

How it works

还可以 and 还好 both mean "it's okay" — passable, not a compliment. 还不错 is a shade warmer: not bad.

This is a useful hedge when you don't want to be either rude or falsely enthusiastic.

Examples

  • hái kě yǐ

    还可以。

    It's alright.

  • zhè jiā cān tīng hái bú cuò

    这家餐厅还不错。

    This restaurant isn't bad.

  • wǒ de zhōng wén hái xíng

    我的中文还行。

    My Chinese is passable.