HSK 4 · Verbs

好像 hǎoxiàng “as if” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 好像 means

  1. as if
  2. to seem like

How to say 好像

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale好hǎo3rd tone, dipping
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale像xiàng4th tone, falling

好像 in a sentence

  1. 我好像发烧了。

    Wǒ hǎoxiàng fāshāo le.

    I think I have a fever.

    Sentence #427591 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 他最近好像瘦了。

    Tā zuìjìn hǎoxiàng shòu le.

    He seems to have lost weight lately.

    Sentence #3060513 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 他说得好像知道这个秘密一样。

    Tā shuō de hǎoxiàng zhīdao zhè ge mìmì yíyàng.

    He talks as if he knows the secret.

    Sentence #332755 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 好像 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 好 (hǎo) with each of its parts in a different colour
好hǎogood
  • 女woman · nǚ
  • 子child · zǐ

Memory aidA woman 女 with her child 子: something good.

The character 像 (xiàng) with each of its parts in a different colour
像xiàngto resemble
  • 亻person form of 人 · rénMeaning part
  • 象elephant · xiàngSound part

亻 hints at the meaning (person); 象 (xiàng) hints at the sound. Compare it with xiàng.

How to write 好像

好 6 strokes · 像 13 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

好像 (hǎoxiàng) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 好像 (hǎoxiàng). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 好像

Words with 好

好hǎo · good你好nǐ hǎo · hello好看hǎokàn · good-looking好听hǎotīng · pleasant to hear好玩儿hǎowánr · amusing好吃hǎochī · delicious不好意思bùhǎoyìsi · to feel embarrassed爱好àihào · hobby好多hǎoduō · a lot of好久hǎojiǔ · a long time

Words with 像

像xiàng · be like偶像ǒuxiàng · idol肖像xiàoxiàng · portrait不像话búxiànghuà · unreasonable

More words: Common Verbs

鼓励gǔlì · to encourage挂guà · to hang (on a hook or wall)广播guǎngbō · broadcast逛guàng · to stroll活动huódòng · activity获得huòdé · to obtain降落jiàngluò · to descend积累jīlěi · to accumulate

FAQs

好像 (hǎoxiàng) means “as if” or “to seem like”. It is an HSK 4 word.
Say it hǎoxiàng: hǎo with a 3rd tone, then xiàng with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 好像 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type haoxiang with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 好像 from the suggestions. Typing haoxiang into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
好像 is an HSK 4 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.