9 Simple Ways to Give Compliments in Chinese
Basic Compliment Structures
First and foremost, let’s take a look at the most common structures we use when complimenting someone.
Many of these follow the same general pattern: Subject + Adverb + Adjective. The adverb basically takes the place of the verb in this structure, does it sound a bit complicated? Don’t worry, it’s actually quite simple when you see it in practice:
Subject + Adverb + Adjective
……很……！very
(hěn)
……太……！too
(tài)
……真……！really
(zhēn)
……好……！so
(hǎo)
……相当……！quite
(xiāngdāng)
……特别……！specially
(tèbié)
……怎么那么……！Why so……!
(zěnme nàme)
The next two examples follow a slightly different structure:
Be sure to note that these last two put the adjective before the adverb.
Subject + Adjective + Adverb
……极了！extremely
(jí le)
……得不得了！exceedingly
(de bùdéliǎo)
General compliments
Now that we’ve covered the sentence structure for compliments and the different adverbs you can use, let’s look at some words you can use to compliment people on different things
Just like in English, there are many different words in Chinese to express how good something is. These can be really useful in everyday life because they’re so versatile and easily fit into the structures we just learned. Let’s look at some examples and their English equivalents.
| 好 | (hǎo) | Good |
| 了不起 | (liǎobùqǐ) | Amazing |
| 厉害 | (lìhài) | Awesome |
| 棒 | (bàng) | Great |
| 了不得 | (liǎobùdé) | Terrific |
| 优秀 | (yōuxiù) | Excellent |
| 牛 | (niú) | Awesome |
| 完美 | (wánměi) | Perfect |
e.g.
您真了不起！(Nǐn zhēn liǎobùqǐ!)
You are terrific!
你儿子好棒！(Nǐ érzi hǎo bàng!)
Your son is great!
你穿这身衣服美极了！(Nǐ chuān zhè shēn yīfu měi jíle!)
You look gorgeous in this dress!
你怎么那么有型！(Nǐ zěnme nàme yǒu xíng!)
Why are you so stylish!
Complimenting Someone’s Appearance
If you want to compliment someone’s physical appearance, you probably want to use adjectives that are more descriptive. Let’s go over some Chinese adjectives that you can use to tell someone how beautiful or handsome they look.
| 漂亮 | (piàoliang) | Beautiful |
| 好看 | (hǎokàn) | Good looking |
| 帅 | (shuài) | handsome |
| 酷 | (kù) | Cool |
| 可爱 | (kě’ài) | Adorable |
| 优雅 | (yōuyǎ) | Elegant |
| 有型 | (yǒu xíng) | Stylish |
| 美 | (měi) | Gorgeous |
e.g.
你的新发型太好看了！(Nǐ de xīn fǎxíng tài hǎokàn le!)
Your new hairstyle is so beautiful!
你好优雅啊！(Nǐ hǎo yōuyǎ a! )
You are so elegant!
你穿这身衣服美极了！(Nǐ chuān zhè shēn yīfu měi jíle!)
You look gorgeous in this dress!
你怎么那么有型！(Nǐ zěnme nàme yǒu xíng!)
Why are you so stylish!
Compliment Someone’s Personality or Behavior
While compliments related to physical appearance are nice to hear, compliments about a person’s personal character or work are equally important. Here are a few words you can use when you want to compliment someone’s personality:
| 乖 | (guāi) | Well-behaved |
| 聪明 | (cōngmíng) | Clever |
| 靠谱 | (kào pǔ) | Reliable |
| 有意思 | (yǒuyìsi) | Interesting |
| 精彩 | (jīngcǎi) | Wonderful |
| 干得漂亮 | (Gàn de piàoliang!) | Good job! |
| 做得好 | (Zuò de hǎo) | Well done! |
| 能干 | (nénggàn) | Capable |
e.g.
你女儿特别乖！(Nǐ nǚ’ér tèbié guāi!)
Your daughter is really well-behaved!
你真靠谱！(Nǐ zhēn kào pǔ!)
You are so reliable!
你的演讲精彩极了！(Nǐ de yǎnjiǎng jīngcǎi jíle!)
Your speech is wonderful!
你的想法很有意思！(Nǐ de xiǎngfǎ hěn yǒuyìsi!)
Your idea is very interesting!
Try saying “Exceedingly Terrific” 10 times fast. 🙂
Good post, Jing!
It is very useful and very good for beginners of Chinese languages dear. So I like it and I am trying to learn my self on net. I will learn because I want to speak Chinese thank you Jing Chao
This page is such a treat!
Thank you so much for this!
I am looking to start this very difficult journey: learning 普通话 as much as possible. I need to study /learn radicals as well, so that my writing does not lag so far behind my speaking.
I am just a newbie, but hope very much to hear from you soon.