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好使 (hǎo shǐ) — easy to use, convenient to operate; (of a tool or device) works well, functions properly

Definition

Spoken adjective meaning a tool or device 'works well, is easy to use' — focus is on whether something functions properly in practice. Often interchangeable with 好用, but 好使 leans more toward 'reliable/effective' than 好用's 'user-friendly'.

adjective
easy to useconvenient to operate(of a tool or device) works wellfunctions properly

Examples

  • 好使。
    Zhè bǎ cài dāo hěn hǎo shǐ.
    This kitchen knife is very easy to use.
  • ？
    Nǐ de diàn nǎo hǎo hǎo shǐ ma?
    Does your computer work well?
  • 好使，。
    Zhè ge xīn shǒu jī zhēn hǎo shǐ, fǎn yìng hěn kuài.
    This new phone is really easy to use, the response is very fast.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

好hǎogood
使shǐuse

好 and 使 combine to mean easy to use.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

好 joins 女 (woman) and 子 (child), understood as a woman with a child, linked to goodness or affection.

Open 好 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rén
Sound part声符shēngfú
吏
吏lì使shǐ
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

使 pairs 亻 (person) with 吏, which pictures a hand holding something like a flag, giving the sense of a representative or ambassador.

Open 使 →
Appears in
Good & Bad

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