坏事

• Pinyin: huài shì
• Hanzi breakdown: 坏 = 土 + 不 (earth + negation, things deteriorating); 事 = 口 + 彐 + 亅 (complex character for affairs and matters)

Meaning

A bad deed; an evil act; something harmful or wrong. As a verb phrase: to ruin things; to spoil an outcome.

Used both as a noun referring to harmful or immoral acts, and as a verbal expression meaning to spoil or ruin a plan. The dual usage makes it versatile in everyday speech and moral discourse. 做坏事 means to commit a wrongdoing; 坏事了 means something has been ruined.

Examples

1. 做坏事的人最终都会受到应有的惩罚。 People who do bad things will eventually receive the punishment they deserve.
2. 他的一时冲动坏事，让整个谈判功亏一篑。 His moment of impulsiveness ruined everything and caused the entire negotiation to fail at the last step.
3. 帮助别人是好事，欺骗他人则是坏事，两者不可混淆。 Helping others is a good deed, while deceiving others is a bad deed—don’t confuse the two.

Usage Guide

Context: ethics, daily life, social commentary, narrative

Tone: negative

Do Say

• 不管什么理由，故意伤害他人都是坏事，不应该被原谅。(Regardless of the reason, deliberately harming others is a bad act and should not be forgiven.)
• 他多嘴一句话反而坏事，让原本谈好的合作就此告吹。(His extra remark actually ruined things — the cooperation that had been agreed upon fell through as a result.)

Don't Say

• 坏事 to describe unfortunate events caused by accident or natural causes — use 不幸 or 糟糕的事 for events without a moral wrongdoing component

Origin & History

坏 (bad/ruin) + 事 (matter/affair)

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal