Kilo Lingo

(hǎo xiàng) - it seems like, apparently, as if in Mandarin

hǎoxiàng

Traditional: 好像

Line drawing of 好像
Coloured illustration of 好像
HSK 3
#284 of 5,000 Core 1000

Translation

it seems like, apparently, as if

Word origin

好像 combines 好 (hǎo, 'good') with 像 (xiàng, 'to resemble, image'); together it means 'to seem like' or 'as if'. 像 is a phono-semantic compound built from 亻(person radical) plus 象 (xiàng, 'elephant, image') as phonetic.

Origin
compound
Root
好 (hǎo, good) + 像 (xiàng, to resemble)

Stroke order

Stroke order for 好

Stroke order for 像

Examples

It seems like he is not coming.

You seem tired.

This seems wrong.

It seems like it is going to rain today.

She seems to be angry.

好像 (hǎo xiàng) means it seems like, apparently, as if. It is used as a adverb in everyday Mandarin speech.

Used in

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This word is part of lesson 6.