好

hǎo

good, excellent, fine; to love, be fond of

Meaning

Adjective/Adverb: Good, fine, excellent, well. Covers a broad range including moral goodness, physical health, technical proficiency, or general pleasantness.
Verb: To love, be fond of, desire, or have a penchant for.

Grammar and usage

Resultative Complement: When following another verb, indicates the successful completion of an action or that it has reached a satisfactory end (e.g., "finished preparing").
Intensifier: In later texts, may function as "very."

Distinctions

Contrast with 良 (liáng): While 好 is general, 良 tends toward innate quality, utility, correctness, or breed.
Contrast with 美 (měi): While 好 is general, 美 leans toward aesthetic beauty, harmony, or elegance.

Translator notes

When the glyph precedes an object, prioritize "inclination" (the verbal sense) over "quality."
In technical, ritual, or philosophical prescriptions, evaluate whether "good" should be rendered as "appropriate," "proper," or "correct."
Exercise caution with the intensifier ("very") reading in early texts; avoid this interpretation unless the syntax precludes adjective or verb readings.

Decontextualized translator aid. This page describes plausible lexical range; it does not choose what the glyph means in a particular passage.