好玩 (hǎo wán) — fun, amusing, interesting (of an activity, place, or thing)

Definition

adjective
funamusinginteresting (of an activity, place, or thing)

Examples

  • 好玩
    Zhè ge yóu xì hěn hǎo wán, nǐ yào bú yào shì shì?
    This game is very fun, do you want to give it a try?
  • 好玩
    Zhōu mò qù yóu lè yuán zhēn shì hǎo wán jí le.
    Going to the amusement park on the weekend was extremely fun.
  • 好玩
    Nà běn shū tǐng hǎo wán de, wǒ yí xià wǔ jiù kàn wán le.
    That book is quite interesting; I finished it in one afternoon.

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 means good and 玩 means play, so something good to play with is fun.

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
jade
Sound part声符shēngfú
yuánwán
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

玩 pairs 玉 (jade) with 元 (yuán) for sound. The jade part points to toys made of jade.

Open 玩 →

Grammar

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