5 ways to say "good" in Chinese

You may already know that "hǎo　好" means "good" in Chinese. But if you want to spice up your vocabulary a little more, here are five more ways to say "good" in Mandarin.

太好了

Tài hǎole
That's great!

This is a perfect way to express how pleased you are with something.

You might also recognize this grammar structure as one of the ways to use le 了　in Chinese

Level: HSK 1

漂亮

Piàoliang
Well done!

We hear this quite a bit on the sports field, when someone takes a good shot. In case you were wondering, 漂亮 also means "beautiful" in Chinese.

Level: HSK 1

真棒

Zhēn bàng
Excellent!

Use this for something that is really first class.

Level: HSK 4

赞／太赞了

Zàn/tài zànle
Amazing!

Incidentally, 赞 is also the word for "to like/give a thumbs up" on Chinese social media, with the full phrase being "diǎn zàn 点赞".

Level: HSK 5

了不起

Liǎobùqǐ
Terrific!

This is an excellent phrase for something that cannot be beat.

Level: HSK 5

Bonus: How to say "good at something" in Chinese?

"To be good at something" generally means "to be skilled at something", so in Chinese you wouldn't use "好" which describes a state/condition/feeling. Instead, you would use either 善于 or 擅长 to say "be good at" in Chinese:

1-善于+ verb: 她不善于记名字。 She is not good at remembering names.

2-擅长+ verb/noun: 他擅长书法。He is good at calligraphy.

It's also important to note that 善于 cannot follow an adverb, while 擅长 can.

❎ Ex: 他特别善于做饭 Tā tèbié shànyú zuò fàn 。He is particularly good at cooking.
✅ Ex: 他特别擅长做饭 Tā tèbié shàncháng zuò fàn。 He is particularly good at cooking.