huàile: 坏了 - Broken, Spoiled, "Oh no!"

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• Summary: Learn the essential Chinese term 坏了 (huàile), one of the most versatile phrases in Mandarin. This guide explains how 坏了 means not just “broken” for objects and “spoiled” for food, but also serves as a crucial, everyday interjection similar to “Oh no!” or “Shoot!” when a situation goes wrong. Understand its characters, cultural use, and see practical examples to master this fundamental expression.

• Pinyin (with tone marks): huài le
• Part of Speech: Verb + Particle; Interjection
• HSK Level: HSK 2 (坏) / HSK 1 (了)
• Concise Definition: It indicates that something is broken, has spoiled, or that a situation has taken a turn for the worse.
• In a Nutshell: 坏了 (huàile) is the Swiss Army knife for problems in Chinese. It's the word you use when your phone stops working, the milk in your fridge smells funny, or you suddenly realize you've forgotten your keys. It combines the state of being “bad” or “broken” (坏 huài) with the sense that this change has just happened or become apparent (了 le). It's both a description of a state and an exclamation of misfortune.

• 坏 (huài): This character can be simply understood by its components. On the left is the “earth” radical 土 (tǔ), and on the right is 不 (bù), meaning “not” or “no.” You can imagine something made of earth (like pottery) that is “no good” anymore—it has crumbled or broken. This gives it the core meaning of “bad,” “broken,” or “to ruin.”
• 了 (le): This is one of the most important particles in Chinese. In this context, it signifies a change of state. It tells you that something was fine before, but now it has entered a new state: the state of being broken or spoiled. It's the difference between “broken” as an adjective and “it broke” as an event.

Together, 坏了 (huàile) literally means “has become bad/broken,” perfectly capturing its use for describing a change from a working state to a non-working one.

The true power of 坏了 (huàile) lies in its use as a spontaneous interjection. While an English speaker might say “The air conditioner is broken,” a Chinese speaker is just as likely to walk into a hot room and exclaim, “坏了！ (Huàile!)” before even mentioning the AC.

• Comparison to “Oh no!”: The best Western comparison isn't the word “broken,” but the exclamation “Oh no!”, “Shoot!”, “Darn it!”, or even a mild “I'm screwed.” It's a reflexive utterance that immediately communicates that a plan has gone awry or a problem has just been discovered. Forgetting your wallet, missing your bus, or sending a text to the wrong person are all perfect moments for a heartfelt “坏了！”.

This reflects a certain pragmatism in daily Chinese culture. It's less about a dramatic outburst and more about an immediate, verbal acknowledgment of a problem that needs to be dealt with. It's a shared, common expression of mild frustration that everyone understands instantly.

坏了 (huàile) is extremely common and primarily informal. Its meaning is almost entirely dependent on context.

This is the most literal meaning. It's used for any device, machine, or object that has stopped functioning correctly. `My computer is broken.` → `我的电脑坏了。 (Wǒ de diànnǎo huàile.)` `The lightbulb burned out.` → `灯泡坏了。 (Dēngpào huàile.)`

When food is no longer good to eat, whether it's rotten, moldy, or stale, 坏了 is the perfect term. `This milk has gone bad.` → `这个牛奶坏了。 (Zhège niúnǎi huàile.)` `The leftovers have spoiled.` → `剩菜坏了。 (Shèngcài huàile.)`

This is the most common and versatile use in conversation. It expresses the realization that a situation has gone wrong. The subject isn't an object, but the situation itself. `(Realizing you forgot your keys)` → “坏了，我忘了带钥匙！” (Huàile, wǒ wàngle dài yàoshi!) `(Realizing you're late for a meeting)` → “坏了，我们要迟到了！” (Huàile, wǒmen yào chídàole!)

• Example 1:
  • 哎呀，我的手机坏了，开不了机。
  • Pinyin: Āiyā, wǒ de shǒujī huàile, kāi bù liǎo jī.
  • English: Oh no, my phone is broken, it won't turn on.
  • Analysis: A classic example of 坏了 used for a broken electronic device. `开不了机 (kāi bù liǎo jī)` is a common phrase explaining how it's broken.
• Example 2:
  • 坏了！我把钱包忘在家里了！
  • Pinyin: Huàile! Wǒ bǎ qiánbāo wàng zài jiālǐ le!
  • English: Shoot! I forgot my wallet at home!
  • Analysis: Here, 坏了 is a pure interjection. It expresses the speaker's sudden panic or frustration about the situation of forgetting their wallet.
• Example 3:
  • 你闻闻，这个酸奶是不是坏了？
  • Pinyin: Nǐ wénwen, zhège suānnǎi shì bu shì huàile?
  • English: Smell this, has this yogurt gone bad?
  • Analysis: Demonstrates the use of 坏了 for spoiled food. It's a question about the state of the food.
• Example 4:
  • 坏了，我好像坐错公交车了。
  • Pinyin: Huàile, wǒ hǎoxiàng zuò cuò gōngjiāo chē le.
  • English: Oh no, I think I got on the wrong bus.
  • Analysis: Another perfect example of the situational use. The “thing” that is “broken” is the speaker's plan or journey.
• Example 5:
  • 夏天天气热，饭菜很容易坏。
  • Pinyin: Xiàtiān tiānqì rè, fàncài hěn róngyì huài.
  • English: In the summer heat, food spoils very easily.
  • Analysis: Note the absence of 了 (le) here. 坏 (huài) is used as a resultative verb complement after `容易 (róngyì)`, meaning “easy to spoil.” It describes a general truth rather than a specific event.
• Example 6:
  • 我们公司的电梯又坏了。
  • Pinyin: Wǒmen gōngsī de diàntī yòu huàile.
  • English: The elevator in our company is broken again.
  • Analysis: A common complaint in daily life. 又 (yòu) means “again,” highlighting the recurring nature of the problem.
• Example 7:
  • 坏了，我把错误的邮件发出去了。
  • Pinyin: Huàile, wǒ bǎ cuòwù de yóujiàn fā chūqù le.
  • English: Crap, I sent the wrong email.
  • Analysis: A classic workplace mishap. 坏了 perfectly captures that sinking feeling of realizing you've made a mistake.
• Example 8:
  • 这个苹果外面看着还好，但里面已经坏了。
  • Pinyin: Zhège píngguǒ wàimiàn kànzhe hái hǎo, dàn lǐmiàn yǐjīng huàile.
  • English: This apple looks fine on the outside, but it's already rotten on the inside.
  • Analysis: Shows the use for spoiled food and highlights the internal state versus the external appearance.
• Example 9:
  • 我的计划全坏了。
  • Pinyin: Wǒ de jìhuà quán huàile.
  • English: My whole plan is ruined.
  • Analysis: Here, 坏了 is applied to an abstract concept: a plan. It means the plan has been foiled or ruined.
• Example 10:
  • 我吃了不干净的东西，肚子坏了。
  • Pinyin: Wǒ chīle bù gānjìng de dōngxi, dùzi huàile.
  • English: I ate something unclean and now my stomach is upset.
  • Analysis: A common physical complaint. `肚子坏了 (dùzi huàile)` is a colloquial way to say you have an upset stomach or diarrhea.

• Don't use it for people's character: You cannot say a person is 坏了 (huàile) to mean they are a “bad person.” 坏了 implies a change of state. To describe someone's bad character, you say `他很坏 (tā hěn huài)` (“He is very bad”). `坏人 (huàirén)` means “bad guy” or “villain.”
• `坏了 (huàile)` vs. `破了 (pòle)`: This is a common point of confusion.
  • 坏了 (huàile) generally means functionally broken. A phone that won't turn on is 坏了.
  • 破了 (pòle) generally means physically compromised, like torn, ripped, or shattered. A shirt with a hole is 破了. A broken window is 破了.
  • There is some overlap. A cup can be both 破了 (shattered) and 坏了 (unusable), but the distinction is useful.
• “Feeling Bad”: 坏了 is not used for emotional states. If you want to say “I feel bad” (sad), you should say `我很难过 (wǒ hěn nánguò)` or `我心情不好 (wǒ xīnqíng bù hǎo)`.

• 破了 (pòle) - Physically ripped, torn, or shattered. A close cousin of `坏了` but focused on physical damage rather than functional failure.
• 完了 (wánle) - “It's over,” “I'm finished/doomed.” A more dramatic interjection than `坏了`. If `坏了` is “shoot,” then `完了` is “it's all over.”
• 糟糕 (zāogāo) - “What a mess,” “terrible.” A very common interjection, often interchangeable with `坏了` when expressing that a situation is bad.
• 故障 (gùzhàng) - A formal, technical term for a “malfunction” or “fault,” typically used in instruction manuals or by technicians.
• 修理 (xiūlǐ) - To repair, to fix. The logical action to take after something is `坏了`.
• 坏人 (huàirén) - A bad person, a villain. Shows the character-describing use of `坏`.
• 腐烂 (fǔlàn) - To rot, to decay. A more formal or biological term for food spoiling. `坏了` is the everyday equivalent.