好像
hǎoxiàng · HSK 2
seem
好像 = good (好) + resemble (像); 'resembles well' → seems like
好 means good/well and 像 means resemble or be like. Together they form an adverb meaning 'seems' or 'appears to be'. The 像 carries the core sense of similarity, while 好 softens it into a hedge.
好 — woman 女 + child 子
好 is an associative compound showing a woman 女 beside a child 子, depicting a mother with her baby. From this image of maternal affection it came to mean 'good, fine, pleasing.' The reading hǎo means 'good'; read hào it means 'to like.'
像 — person radical 亻 + elephant 象
Originally 象 alone meant 'elephant' and by extension 'image/likeness,' since elephants were rare and people knew them mainly through depictions. The 亻 (person) radical was later added to specialize the meaning as 'image, likeness, resemble,' leaving 象 for the animal itself.