Adjectives are the color in your Mandarin sentences – without them, everything’s just ‘good’ or ‘not good’. That gets old fast. This list gathers around 1,000 of the most common Chinese adjectives you’ll actually use, from 大 to 漂亮, so you can describe people, food, places, and moods with precision.
Every entry pairs a clear meaning with a natural example sentence, so you see exactly how the adjective behaves in real Chinese – not a lifeless translation. There’s audio playback right in the table, because your ears need practice just as much as your eyes.
Ready to give your Chinese vocab a little extra sparkle? Scroll to the bottom of this article to find the free downloadable printable Most Common Chinese Adjectives flashcards and the free printable Most Common Chinese Adjectives vocabulary list PDF, both made to help you review with less stress and a lot more confidence.
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Quick Quiz
Think you can match an adjective to its meaning in a flash? Give the quick quiz below a go – no pressure, just a friendly check.
Browse the Full List
| Grammar Word | Pinyin | Function | Meaning | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 合 | hé | Other | to close/to join/to fit/to be equal to/whole/together/round (in battle)/conjunction (astronomy)/1st note of pentatonic scale/old variant of 盒[he2] | |
| 合不来 | hébùlái | Other | unable to get along together/incompatible | |
| 合作 | hézuò | Other | to cooperate/to collaborate/to work together/cooperation | |
| 合得来 | hédelái | Other | to get along well/compatible/also written 和得來|和得来[he2 de5 lai2] | |
| 合意 | héyì | Other | to suit one's taste/suitable/congenial/by mutual agreement | |
| 合法 | héfǎ | Other | lawful/legitimate/legal | |
| 合理 | hélǐ | Other | rational | |
| 合算 | hésuàn | Other | worthwhile/to be a good deal/to be a bargain/to reckon up/to calculate | |
| 合适 | héshì | Other | suitable/fitting/appropriate | |
| 吉利 | jílì | Other | auspicious/lucky/propitious | |
| 吉祥 | jíxiáng | Other | lucky/auspicious/propitious | |
| 同 | tóng | Adverb | like/same/similar/together/alike/with | |
| 同心 | tóngxīn | Other | to be of one mind/united/concentric | |
| 后悔 | hòuhuǐ | Other | to regret | |
| 听 tīng | to listen | Other | 我喜欢听音乐。Wǒ xǐhuan tīng yīnyuè. | |
| 吵 | chǎo | Other | to quarrel/to make a noise/noisy/to disturb by making a noise | |
| 呆 | dāi | Other | foolish/stupid/expressionless/blank/to stay | |
| 周到 | zhōudào | Other | thoughtful/considerate/attentive/thorough/also pr. [zhou1 dao5] | |
| 和平 | hépíng | Other | peace/peaceful | |
| 和气 | héqì | Other | friendly/polite/amiable | |
| 和睦 | hémù | Other | peaceful relations/harmonious | |
| 和谐 | héxié | Other | harmonious/harmony/(euphemism) to censor | |
| 咸 | xián | Other | salted/salty/stingy/miserly | |
| 啰嗦/啰唆 | luōsuō | Other | long-winded/wordy/troublesome/pesky/also pr. [luo1 suo1] | |
| 喜欢 xǐhuan | to like | Other | 我喜欢中国菜。Wǒ xǐhuan Zhōngguó cài. |
Free Most Common Chinese Adjectives PDF and Flashcards to Download
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