Common Adjectives and Descriptions

Adjectives allow you to describe the world around you. Chinese adjectives work differently from English — they can function as verbs, and comparisons follow a distinct pattern. This lesson covers the most essential descriptive characters.

---

Core Adjective Characters

Character	Pinyin	Meaning	Stroke Count	Example Word
好	hǎo	good	6	好人 (hǎo rén) — good person
坏	huài	bad	7	坏人 (huài rén) — bad person
多	duō	many/much	6	很多 (hěn duō) — very many
少	shǎo	few/little	4	多少 (duō shǎo) — how many
新	xīn	new	13	新年 (xīn nián) — New Year
老	lǎo	old (people/things)	6	老师 (lǎo shī) — teacher
长	cháng	long	4	长城 (cháng chéng) — Great Wall
短	duǎn	short (length)	12	短信 (duǎn xìn) — text message
高	gāo	tall/high	10	高兴 (gāo xìng) — happy
低	dī	low	7	低头 (dī tóu) — bow one's head
快	kuài	fast	7	快乐 (kuài lè) — happy/joyful
慢	màn	slow	14	慢慢 (màn man) — slowly
大	dà	big	3	大学 (dà xué) — university
小	xiǎo	small	3	小学 (xiǎo xué) — primary school
美	měi	beautiful	9	美丽 (měi lì) — beautiful

Memory Tip: 好 (good) is composed of 女 (woman) + 子 (child) — a mother with her child represents goodness. 美 (beautiful) is said to show a person (大) wearing a headdress (羊, sheep horns) — beauty through adornment.

---

Opposite Pairs

Learning adjectives in opposite pairs makes them easier to remember:

Character	Pinyin	Meaning	Opposite	Pinyin	Meaning
好	hǎo	good	坏	huài	bad
大	dà	big	小	xiǎo	small
多	duō	many	少	shǎo	few
新	xīn	new	旧	jiù	old (things)
长	cháng	long	短	duǎn	short
高	gāo	tall	矮	ǎi	short (height)
快	kuài	fast	慢	màn	slow
热	rè	hot	冷	lěng	cold
远	yuǎn	far	近	jìn	near
难	nán	difficult	容易	róng yì	easy
贵	guì	expensive	便宜	pián yi	cheap
胖	pàng	fat	瘦	shòu	thin

---

Temperature and Sensation Characters

Character	Pinyin	Meaning	Stroke Count	Example Word
热	rè	hot	10	热水 (rè shuǐ) — hot water
冷	lěng	cold	7	冷水 (lěng shuǐ) — cold water
暖	nuǎn	warm	13	温暖 (wēn nuǎn) — warm

---

Adjectives as Verbs

In Chinese, adjectives can function as verbs without needing a linking verb like "is":

Chinese	Literal	English
天气好	weather good	The weather is good
他很高	he very tall	He is (very) tall
这个很贵	this very expensive	This is (very) expensive
水很冷	water very cold	The water is (very) cold