# I am not very good



## scotty_le_b

I tried to translate I am not very good and I wondered if someone could check it? Wo3 bu4 he3n ha3o? (I can't write the tones on the letters so I used numbers instead)


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## Madievil

我不很好 sounds a little bit wired。The reason is quite difficult to explain. Mostly we don't put 不 directly before 很。很不 is correct，but the meaning changes，it means extremely not。
我不太好（wo3 bu2 tai4 hao3），我不是很好( wo3 bu2 shi4 hen3 hao3) will be better。


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## scotty_le_b

Which of those phrases would be most common? 


> Mostly we don't put 不 directly before 很。很不 is correct，but the meaning changes，it means extremely not。


So does that mean that if you were (very) not good then you could say wo3 he3n bu4 ha3o?


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## Madievil

我不太好（wo3 bu2 tai4 hao3），我不是很好( wo3 bu2 shi4 hen3 hao3)  these two both are common. seldom use “Wo3 bu4 he3n ha3o”


> So does that mean that if you were (very) not good then you could say wo3 he3n bu4 ha3o?


YES。


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## chinglish

Also, Scotty, you don't sound native to me, so please note that as a general rule, when a character with the 3rd tone is placed directly after another, the first one changes to a 2nd tone, meaning 我不是很好 would be pronounced wo3 bu2 shi4 hen2 hao3. Hope it helps.


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## Clement_Sun

Just a hint: Chinese grammar is similar to English grammar so you need to put at least one verb in a sentence.(unless in some command sentences)

Wo3 bu4 he3n ha3o
I      not very good

clearly, you need a verb.   : )


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## xiaolijie

This is the sort of replies that confuse the hell out of beginning learners. What do you mean by "need a verb"? And why then "Wo3 he3n ha3o" is ok ??!!


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## Clement_Sun

You want to talk about grammar?    Let's talk about it.

In Chinese, there are lots of adjectives that can serve as verbs(aka.  stative verbs).  By this definition, it would be much easier for beginners to comprehend such sentences:

Subject    Adverb    Verb          Modal Particle
你                         好          吗？
我              很            好。    
你                                    呢？
我              也很            好。    

in #3, he stated that ' You were not (very) good', => 
                 I (am not) very good.

In my opinion,
                我(不是)      很   好.    is the equivalence in Chinese.

And here by using this sentence, I tried not to involve any 'stative verbs' and this syntactic order is way easier to understand for a native speaker of English. 

Why did I say it's easier? Here it is:

If you are trying to imply that there is no verb in this sentence:

Wo3 he3n ha3o

Please choose one solution to explain it:

1. Imagine a native speaker of English trying to understand a full sentence without any verb.

2. Imagine a native speaker of English trying to understand adjs used as verb with so many verbs/nouns used as adj/verbs in English.

Which one is easier to understand? IMHO, i would say the second one.

Besides,  when he continues his study(I assume someone who doesn't know Wo3 bu4 he3n ha3o' is incorrect is a beginner ), he'll gradually get to know stative verbs and how to form sentences with them. And again, it is not hard to understand either(not exactly the same though).

PS: I'm a little bit offended by your comment.


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## xiaolijie

You don't seem to understand my question in #7, Clement Sun. Let me try again:

Since you implied in #6 that this sentence "Wo3 bu4 he3n ha3o" was not good because it didn't have a verb. I therefore asked why then another sentence "Wo3 he3n ha3o" _still without a verb _ but is ok? 
By this question, I just want to let you know that you pointed out the *wrong reason* for "Wo3 bu4 he3n ha3o" being not good, and this wrong diagnosis will confuse the learners. "Wo3 bu4 he3n ha3o" may have a problem _in this context_ but the problem has nothing to do with not having a verb, which is what I want to say.

I hope my question to you is clearer now and is helpful to you.


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## Clement_Sun

Wo3 bu4 he3n ha3  is wrong and it can be corrected either by adding a verb(wo3 bu2 shi4 he3n ha3o/ shi4 is a verb) or change it into wo3 bu4 ha3o.

It depends on how you interpret 'bu4', should it be part of 'bu4 ha3o' or'bu2shi4'?  It is ambiguous.


I chose the first solution as it is easier for beginners to understand. But this does NOT mean I gave the wrong diagnosis. There could be TWO reasons and I picked one.


Both of the correct sentences HAVE verbs. In  'wo3 bu4 ha3o',  ha3o is the stative verb.

In #8, there are some format problems.   please see the link below to have a look at stative verbs:

Chinese for the Casual Learner

hope this may help you to understand my comment.


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## gpu

scotty_le_b said:


> I tried to translate I am not very good and I wondered if someone could check it? Wo3 bu4 he3n ha3o? (I can't write the tones on the letters so I used numbers instead)


 
You may make this question clear by giving its context. 

For example, if it is your response to the greeting, you can say

- 最近好吗？
- 不太好。

or, 不大好。“不是很好” is also acceptable.


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## Ortkiewitcz

xiaolijie said:


> You don't seem to understand my question in #7, Clement Sun. Let me try again:
> 
> Since you implied in #6 that this sentence "Wo3 bu4 he3n ha3o" was not good because it didn't have a verb. I therefore asked why then another sentence "Wo3 he3n ha3o" _still without a verb _ but is ok?
> By this question, I just want to let you know that you pointed out the *wrong reason* for "Wo3 bu4 he3n ha3o" being not good, and this wrong diagnosis will confuse the learners. "Wo3 bu4 he3n ha3o" may have a problem _in this context_ but the problem has nothing to do with not having a verb, which is what I want to say.
> I hope my question to you is clearer now and is helpful to you.


Exactly. I agree with you. He just provided the wrong reason for that, which is pretty confusing to beginners. His logical reasoning needs improving.


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## Skatinginbc

好 is highly ambiguous.  It could mean "_fine_" as in 我很好 (e.g., "I am fine.  Thank you.").  It could mean "_nice_" as in 你真好 (e.g., "You are very nice.").  It could also mean "_good_" as in 書法我不是很好 ("I am not very good at calligraphy").


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## anahiseri

I have only just started with Chinese, but Clement's explanations have left me stunned. I have never been told that Chinese sentences need a verb. According to my teacher, it is just the opposite: When you have an adjective, you dont need to use the verb "be" (which is something like "shi").
I good --- he happy ---- they busy ........
That is how I have learnt Chinese works.


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## SuperXW

I don't think his answer was good.


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