Different ways to say “nice” “Nice” is a ver - Cchatty

Different ways to say “nice”

“Nice” is a very imprecise word in English. When referring to people, if by “nice” you mean “friendly,” use héqi 和 气, as in:

That person is very nice.
Nàge rén hěn héqi.
那个人很和气。

When by “nice” you mean “kind” or “good,” use shànliáng 善良.

That young boy is very nice (kind). He wouldn’t even think of hurting a small bug.
Nàge xiǎo nánhái hěn shànliáng, lián yíge xiǎo chóngzi yě bùkěn shānghài.
那个小男孩很善良，连一个小虫子也不肯伤害。

“Nice” when referring to the weather or something abstract, like “nice job,” is simply hǎo 好 (good), as in:

Today’s weather is really nice.
Jīntiān de tiānqi zhēn hǎo.
今天的天气真好。

You did a nice job (You did that thing well).
Nàjian shì nǐ zuòde hěn hǎo.
那件事你做得很好。

How do you say, “Have a NICE day”? You DON’T! Of course, a person will do their best to have a nice day, but how it turns out, the Chinese feel is largely beyond their control.

When taking leave of someone, in place of “Have a nice day,” simply say Zàijiàn 再见, “goodbye.” For “Have a nice weekend,” you can simply say

"See you Monday,”
Xīngqīyī jiàn
星期一见.

These days you will hear Chinese people say something like

“Hope you have a good time” to wish people an enjoyable weekend, as well as a good
vacation, etc.:

Zhù nǐ zhōumò wánde yúkuài.
祝你周末玩得愉快。

You may even hear
Zhù nǐ yǒu yígè hǎode zhōumò.
祝你有一个好的周末
Literally: I wish you a good weekend.

But you will never hear
Zhù nǐ yǒu hǎode yìtiān
祝你有好的一天。