adj.
beautiful; pretty; handsome
漂亮
beautiful; pretty; handsome
Beautiful, pretty, or visually striking; used for people, clothes, views, or even actions done skillfully (干得漂亮).
Common Usage & Traps
- 很漂亮 — pretty (the default way to end a sentence about looks)
- 漂亮姑娘 — a pretty girl
- 长得漂亮 — good-looking, nice to look at
- 干得漂亮 — nice work, well played
- 漂亮话 — smooth talk with nothing behind it
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她漂亮。她很漂亮。A bare adjective parked at the end sounds like a comparison waiting to finish: 'she's prettier (than someone).' 很 is the glue that closes the sentence.
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漂亮人漂亮姑娘 / 漂亮的人人 doesn't take 漂亮 straight on. Say 漂亮姑娘, or add 的 and say 漂亮的人.
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非常漂亮极了非常漂亮 / 漂亮极了Two 'very's crammed into one slot. Pick one and stop.
Why does 她很漂亮 get translated as 'she's pretty' when 很 means 'very'?
很 here is not volume control, it's the glue that lets an adjective stand alone.
Put 很 in front of 漂亮 and native speakers barely hear the 'very' at all. It is doing a structural job: holding the adjective up so the sentence can end there. Without it, 她漂亮 hangs in the air and reads like the start of a comparison. Compare 她比妹妹漂亮, which is a real comparison and needs no 很. Questions and negatives drop it too: 她漂亮吗? and 她不漂亮 both run fine without it. So file 很 under grammar, not under enthusiasm.
| Dimension | Natural | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Plain description | 她很漂亮。 | 她漂亮。 |
| Yes/no question | 她漂亮吗？ | 她很漂亮吗？(now it really means 'very') |
| Negative | 她不漂亮。 | 她不很漂亮。 |
Can you call a man 漂亮?
Sure, but for an adult guy people reach for 帅; 漂亮 sounds doll-like.
漂亮 does get used on men, just in a narrower lane. 他长得挺帅 is what a friend says about a hot guy. 他长得很漂亮 usually means a refined, pretty-boy sort of beauty rather than plain attractiveness. Little boys and babies are totally fine: 这孩子长得真漂亮. Use 漂亮 on an ordinary adult man and you may get a raised eyebrow. Rule of thumb: women and kids get 漂亮, grown men get 帅 or 挺好看的.
| Dimension | Natural | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Adult man, everyday praise | 他长得挺帅。 | 他长得很漂亮。 |
| Woman | 她长得很漂亮。 | 她长得挺帅。 |
Does 漂亮 only mean good-looking?
No. 干得漂亮 means 'nice work', so it covers skill and moves too.
漂亮 escapes the face and lands on actions, moves, and solutions. 干得漂亮 is standard praise when a coworker nails something, the same energy as 'nice one'. 这一球打得漂亮 works for a killer shot or a slick argument. There is a shady cousin as well: 漂亮话 means smooth talk with nothing behind it. So when someone accuses you of 说漂亮话, that is not a compliment.
| Dimension | Natural | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Looks | 这姑娘长得漂亮。 | 这姑娘漂亮。(reads as a comparison) |
| A job well done | 干得漂亮！ | 干得很好看！ |
| Empty flattery | 别光说漂亮话。 | 别光说好看话。 |
Can you stack two descriptive words together directly like 房间大漂亮?
No. In daily speech, join them with 又...又...: 房间又大又漂亮.
In rhyming chants or poems, syllables get trimmed to keep the rhythm. But in real life, saying 房间大漂亮 sounds like a broken telegram. Everyday speech either chains the words with 又...又..., or gives each word its own 很: 房间很大，也很漂亮.
| Dimension | Natural | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Everyday talk | 房间又大又漂亮。 | 房间大漂亮。 |
| Stacking with 很 | 房间很大，也很漂亮。 | 房间很大漂亮。 |
Featured in Story Deep Dive
Follow how this word unfolds across the narrative arc of this graded story.
Follow a traveler's unexpected hospital stay in China, where counting days and costs becomes practical learning. Practice numbers, dates, food prices, and simple descriptions of a doctor and room.
- Scene #1
休息两星期，七天住医院医生人很好，房间大 漂亮 。
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