好 hǎo (“good”) and 難 nán难 nán (“hard”) can go in front of a verb to make a new adjective. These words can mean two different things: good vs. bad (how something looks, tastes or sounds), or easy vs. hard (how easy it is to do).
一 Good vs. Bad
好 / 難难 + Sense Verb
With verbs of the senses, like looking, eating, drinking and listening, 好 hǎo means “nice to…” and 難 nán难 nán means “unpleasant to…”
好看 hǎokàngood-looking; fun to watch
難看 nánkàn难看 nánkànugly
好吃 hǎochīdelicious
難吃 nánchī难吃 nánchītastes bad
好聽 hǎotīng好听 hǎotīngnice to listen to
難聽 nántīng难听 nántīngunpleasant to hear
他唱歌真的很難聽难听
His singing is really awful to listen to.
他做的飯饭非常好吃
The food he makes is super delicious.
這这咖啡好難喝难喝，怎麼怎么這麼这么苦
This coffee tastes awful. Why is it so bitter?
Careful: the first 好 hǎo here is an adverb meaning “really, so,” not part of the pattern.
你推薦推荐的電影电影很好看
The movie you recommended is really good.
二 Easy vs. Hard
好 / 難难 + Action Verb
With other verbs, 好 hǎo means “easy to…” and 難 nán难 nán means “hard to…”
好懂 hǎodǒngeasy to understand
難懂 nándǒng难懂 nándǒnghard to understand
好吃 hǎochīeasy to eat
難吃 nánchī难吃 nánchīhard to eat
好學 hǎoxué好学 hǎoxuéeasy to learn
難學 nánxué难学 nánxuéhard to learn
中文很好學好学，英文很難學难学
Chinese is easy to learn, but English is hard to learn.
Tiff’s opinion, at least. 😄
你覺得觉得蛋糕好做嗎吗？
Do you think cakes are easy to make?
我的名字不難寫难写，很簡單简单
My name isn’t hard to write. It’s really simple.
你說说的話话很難懂难懂
What you said is hard to understand.
三 Which Meaning Is It?
Notice that 好吃 hǎochī and 難吃 nánchī难吃 nánchī show up in both lists? So how do you know which meaning is meant? Only from the context. There’s no other way!
螃蟹很難吃难吃，可是很好吃
Crabs are hard to eat, but they’re delicious.
The first 難吃 nánchī难吃 nánchī means “hard to eat,” and 好吃 hǎochī means “tasty.” 🦀
四 Common Mistakes
❌ 這这首歌很好看
✅ 這这首歌很好聽好听
Pick the verb that matches the sense: you listen to a song, so it’s 好聽 hǎotīng好听 hǎotīng.
❌ 這这杯咖啡很難吃难吃
✅ 這这杯咖啡很難喝难喝
Drinks are 喝 hē, not 吃 chī. Use 好喝 / 難喝 hǎohē / nánhē好喝 / 难喝 hǎohē / nánhē for drinks.
❌ 我很難學难学中文
✅ 中文很難學难学
These words describe the thing, not the person. Chinese is the thing that’s hard to learn, so it’s the subject.
五 Practice
Tap the words below in the right order to build the sentence, then check your answer. If it’s wrong, you can try again as many times as you like, or hit “Show answer” if you get stuck. Careful: some tiles are traps and are not needed!
Question 1 of 10
“This dress is so pretty!”
Tap words below to build the sentence
❌ Try Again
這这件衣服好好看！
The first 好 hǎo means “so,” and 好看 hǎokàn means “good-looking.” The 好聽 hǎotīng好听 hǎotīng tile is a trap.
“This soup tastes awful.”
Tap words below to build the sentence
❌ Try Again
這这碗湯汤很難喝难喝
Soup is something you drink in Chinese, so 難喝 nánhē难喝 nánhē. The 難吃 nánchī难吃 nánchī tile is a trap.
“This word is hard to write.”
Tap words below to build the sentence
❌ Try Again
這这個个字很難寫难写
難寫 nánxiě难写 nánxiě = “hard to write.”
“Is his new song nice to listen to?”
Tap words below to build the sentence
❌ Try Again
他的新歌好聽好听嗎吗？
Songs are for listening: 好聽 hǎotīng好听 hǎotīng.
“This math problem is really hard to understand.”
Tap words below to build the sentence
❌ Try Again
這这個个數學題数学题真的很難懂难懂
難懂 nándǒng难懂 nándǒng = “hard to understand.”
“Is Taiwanese easy to learn?”
Tap words below to build the sentence
❌ Try Again
台語台语好學好学嗎吗？
The language is the subject, and 好學 hǎoxué好学 hǎoxué describes it. The 我 wǒ tile is a trap.
“The bread at that bakery is really delicious.”
Tap words below to build the sentence
❌ Try Again
那家麵包店面包店的麵包面包非常好吃
Here 好吃 hǎochī means “tasty.”
“His handwriting is ugly.”
Tap words below to build the sentence
❌ Try Again
他寫写的字很難看难看
難看 nánkàn难看 nánkàn = “ugly, not nice to look at.”
“This kind of fish is hard to eat. It has a lot of bones.”
Tap words below to build the sentence
❌ Try Again
這这種种魚鱼很難吃难吃，魚刺鱼刺很多
這種魚魚刺很多，很難吃这种鱼鱼刺很多，很难吃 is also correct.
The context (lots of bones) tells you 難吃 nánchī难吃 nánchī means “hard to eat” here, not “tastes bad.” The 刺 cì tile is a trap.
