字Study Chinese Characters
好

hǎo good

also read hào in 爱好 — see below

6 strokes

好 (hǎo) is a Chinese character meaning “good”. It is written from 女 (woman; female) and 子 (child; son), side by side, and takes 6 strokes. It has a second reading, hào, which turns up in 爱好 — here the two readings are two separate things to learn, not one card with two answers.

Build the character for “good”

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Structure

女 + 子

Left–right structure

  • 女 woman; female · nǚ meaning
  • 子 child; son · zǐ meaning

Structure from: 说文解字: 好，美也。从女子

Memory aid

A woman (女) beside her child (子). Both parts are really in this character — and together they say: this is good.

This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.

Stroke order

6 strokes

In real words

  • 你好nǐ hǎohello好 = hǎospoken asní hǎoHSK 1
  • 好人hǎo réna good person好 = hǎo
  • 不好bù hǎonot good; bad好 = hǎoHSK 1
  • 友好yǒu hǎofriendly; amicable好 = hǎospoken asyóu hǎo
  • 好吗hǎo ma…OK? / how about it?好 = hǎoHSK 1
  • 好吧hǎo baokay; alright; fine then好 = hǎoHSK 1
  • 好听hǎo tīngpleasant to hear; nice-sounding好 = hǎo
  • 好多hǎo duōa great many; a lot of好 = hǎo
  • 好歹hǎo dǎigood and bad; whatever happens好 = hǎospoken asháo dǎi
  • 好玩hǎo wánfun; amusing好 = hǎo
  • 好评hǎo pínga favorable review; praise好 = hǎoHSK 5
  • 好运hǎo yùngood luck; good fortune好 = hǎo
  • 更好gèng hǎobetter好 = hǎoHSK 3
  • 正好zhèng hǎojust right; exactly; as it happens好 = hǎoHSK 3
  • 良好liáng hǎogood; fine; in good condition好 = hǎoHSK 4
  • 好啊hǎo asure!; okay!; great!好 = hǎoHSK 1
  • 好看hǎo kàngood-looking; nice to look at好 = hǎo
  • 很好hěn hǎovery good; very well好 = hǎospoken ashén hǎoHSK 1
  • 恰好qià hǎojust right; as it happens; by coincidence好 = hǎo
  • 您好nín hǎohello (polite)好 = hǎo
  • 挺好tǐng hǎopretty good; quite good好 = hǎospoken astíng hǎo
Go deeper

All readings

hǎo main reading

good

good; well; fine; proper; easy to; very

优点多的、令人满意的。也用在动词前，表示容易做或程度深。 — studyhanzi 编写

Words with this reading

  • 你好nǐ hǎohello好 = hǎospoken asní hǎoHSK 1
  • 好人hǎo réna good person好 = hǎo
  • 不好bù hǎonot good; bad好 = hǎoHSK 1
  • 友好yǒu hǎofriendly; amicable好 = hǎospoken asyóu hǎo
  • 好吗hǎo ma…OK? / how about it?好 = hǎoHSK 1
  • 好吧hǎo baokay; alright; fine then好 = hǎoHSK 1
  • 好听hǎo tīngpleasant to hear; nice-sounding好 = hǎo
  • 好多hǎo duōa great many; a lot of好 = hǎo
  • 好歹hǎo dǎigood and bad; whatever happens好 = hǎospoken asháo dǎi
  • 好玩hǎo wánfun; amusing好 = hǎo
  • 好评hǎo pínga favorable review; praise好 = hǎoHSK 5
  • 好运hǎo yùngood luck; good fortune好 = hǎo
  • 更好gèng hǎobetter好 = hǎoHSK 3
  • 正好zhèng hǎojust right; exactly; as it happens好 = hǎoHSK 3
  • 良好liáng hǎogood; fine; in good condition好 = hǎoHSK 4
  • 好啊hǎo asure!; okay!; great!好 = hǎoHSK 1
  • 好看hǎo kàngood-looking; nice to look at好 = hǎo
  • 很好hěn hǎovery good; very well好 = hǎospoken ashén hǎoHSK 1
  • 恰好qià hǎojust right; as it happens; by coincidence好 = hǎo
  • 您好nín hǎohello (polite)好 = hǎo
  • 挺好tǐng hǎopretty good; quite good好 = hǎospoken astíng hǎo
hào

to be fond of

to be fond of; to be keen on; to have a tendency to

喜爱；喜欢。 — studyhanzi 编写

Words with this reading

  • 爱好ài hàohobby; to be keen on好 = hàoHSK 3

Other characters with these parts

女 → 奴奶她如奸妃妄妆

子 → 仔孔孕字存孙孝季

Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions

Questions people ask about this character

What does 好 mean?

好 (hǎo) means good; well; fine; proper; easy to; very.

How do you pronounce 好?

Its main reading is hǎo. It also has a second reading, hào, which only shows up in certain words such as 爱好 — so the word tells you the reading, not the character on its own.

Why is 好 sometimes pronounced hào?

Because it is a multi-reading character: each reading carries a different sense, and the word decides which one applies. In 爱好 it is read hào.

What parts is 好 made of?

女 (woman; female) and 子 (child; son), side by side. This breakdown was checked by a human (source: 说文解字: 好，美也。从女子). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.

How many strokes does 好 have?

6. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.

What is the radical of 好?

女. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.

What words use 好?

Common ones are 你好 and 好人. The reading of 好 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.