(Listen to the podcast audio to hear the Chinese words and sentences mentioned below)
There is a Chinese word that means very. The character for it is
很
and it’s pronunciation is ㄏㄣˇ (hěn).
Yep, like the chicken, only to my ear it is pronounced more like “huhn” with the third tone, a sound like dipping low in the middle. The discrepancy in phonetics is because the Chinese language does not use exactly the same sounds as our English alphabet.
You will find native Chinese-speakers constantly saying they are “very happy”, or
很快樂
(很)(快樂)
(ㄏㄣˇ)(ㄎㄨㄞˋ ㄌㄜˋ)
(hěn)(kuài lè)
very happy
Sometimes with children, the emphasis is included, but buffered by just doubling the words. Here is a less happy example:
你壞壞！
(你)(壞壞)
(ㄋㄧˇ)(ㄏㄨㄞˋ ㄏㄨㄞˋ)
(nǐ)(huài huài)
(you)(bas, spoiled, broken)
You have behaved badly!
We would rather say:
你乖乖！
(你)(乖乖)
(ㄋㄧˇ)(ㄍㄨㄞ ㄍㄨㄞ)
(nǐ)(guāi guāi)
(you)(well-behaved, obediently)
You are behaving so well!
My predominantly German heritage has passed on to me a bias toward avoiding unnecessary exaggeration. Along with this, I was taught in English class to avoid potentially empty adjectives. Hence, I think carefully about using the word very in English. I would rather rely on understatement much of the time, hoping the reader is paying attention to every word.
With Chinese it is different. They think that to just say you are “happy” is lacking expression and feeling. Either you are “very happy” or you are not really happy at all.
Of course, this also means that if you are
busy 忙 ㄇㄤˊ (máng),
or cold 冷 ㄌㄥˇ (lěng),
or tall 高 ㄍㄠ (gāo),
or almost anything, you are “very” 很 whatever-it-is. In fact, the common positive response to a question is 很好 ㄏㄣˇ ㄏㄠˇ (hen3 hao3) very good。
When I first started my lessons, and my instructors responded with 很 enthusiastically to my efforts, I had the impression they were overly excited. Instead, by their speech, they were already imparting to me this common practice in the Chinese language.
If you are making a comparison, you often don’t use 很, because the extent of the thing is reflected in that comparison.
我比你忙！我比你更忙！
(我)(比)(你)(忙) (我)(比)(你)(更)(忙)
(ㄨㄛˇ)(ㄅㄧˇ)(ㄋㄧˇ)(ㄇㄤˊ) (ㄨㄛˇ)(ㄅㄧˇ)(ㄋㄧˇ)(ㄍㄥˋ)(ㄇㄤˊ)
(wǒ)(bǐ)(nǐ)(máng) (wǒ)(bǐ)(nǐ)(gèng)(máng)
(I)(to compare with)(you)(busy, short of time, fully occupied), (I)(to compare with)(you)(more, to a greater degree)(busy, short of time, fully occupied)
I’m busier than you! I’m much busier than you!
So, what, you may ask, if you want to add even more degree to your happiness? Then, there are words like:
太 ㄊㄞˋ (tài) which means the highest, greatest, extremely, and yes, also very, but apparently a more important very.
This is the word of the marketplace, where you can constantly tell the salesperson, 太貴 ！ ㄊㄞˋ ㄍㄨㄟˋ (tài guì) too expensive.
Then, there are those times that go beyond even that. You might want to say something is extraordinary, or not at all common. That would be the time to use 非常 ㄈㄟ ㄔㄤˊ (fēi cháng). So, for my tagline on my homesteading blog (dailyimprovisations.com), I can now say:
平凡的女人卻非常有趣
(平凡)❺(的)(女人)(卻)❶(非常)(有趣)❷
(ㄆㄧㄥˊ ㄈㄢˊ)(ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄋㄩˇ ㄖㄣˊ)(ㄑㄩㄝˋ)(ㄈㄟ ㄔㄤˊ)(ㄧㄡˇ ㄑㄩˋ)
(píng fán)(de.)(nǚ rén)(què)(fēi cháng)(yǒu qù)
(ordinary, commonplace)(adjective marker)(woman)(but, yet, however, nevertheless)(extraordinary, really, unusual, very)(fascinating, amusing, interesting)
Ordinary woman, extraordinary fun
But supposing something happens that is like nothing else previously, or you can’t remember anything more extreme. Then, you might want to say:
我沒有像這樣高興過！
(我)(沒有)(像)(這)(樣)(高❸興)(過)
(ㄨㄛˇ)(ㄇㄟˊ ㄧㄡˇ)(ㄒㄧㄤˋ)(ㄓㄜˋ)(ㄧㄤˋ)(ㄍㄠ ㄒㄧㄥˋ)(ㄍㄨㄛˋ)
(wǒ)(méin yǒu)(xiàng)(zhè)(yàng)(gāo xìng)(guò)
(I)(not have)(like, as)(this)(kind)(happy, glad, elated, delighted)(in the past)
I have never been this happy before!
So, whether you are:
太累 (tài lèi) too tired，
很快 ㄏㄣˇ ㄎㄨㄞˋ (hěn kuài) very fast❹，
or 你的狗非常髒兮兮 ㄋㄧˇ ㄉㄜ˙ ㄍㄡˇ ㄈㄟ ㄔㄤˊ ㄗㄤ ㄒ一ㄒㄧ (nǐ de.)(gǒu)(fēi cháng)(zāng xī xī) your dog is extremely dirty ，
you hopefully now understand better how to say it with appropriate Chinese emphasis,
只要妳記得好好的練習中文，你就會說得很好。
(只)(要)(你)(記得)(好好的)(練習)(中文)，
(ㄓˇ)(ㄧㄠˋ)(ㄋㄧˇ)(ㄐㄧˊ ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄏㄠˇ ㄏㄠˇ ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄌㄧㄢˋ ㄒㄧˊ)(ㄓㄨㄥ ㄨㄣˊ),
(zhǐ)(yào)(nǐ)(jì de.)(hǎo hǎo de.)(liàn xí)(zhōng wén),
(only)(to want, to need)(you)(to remember)(put your mind to)(to practice)(Chinese language),
…..(你)(就)❻(會)(說)(得)(很)(好)
…..(ㄋㄧˇ)(ㄐㄧㄡˋ)(ㄏㄨㄟˋ)(ㄕㄨㄛ)(ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄏㄣˇ)(ㄏㄠˇ)
…..(nǐ)(jiù)(huì)(shuō)(de.)(hěn)(hǎo).
…..(you)(precisely)(will)(speak)(particle connecting previous verb to following phrase)(very)(well, proper, appropriate, good)
Only you need to remember to put your mind to practicing the Chinese language, then you will speak it well.
註解 ㄓㄨˋ ㄐㄧㄝˇ (zhù jiě) Notes:
❶ A comma is not used in the Chinese, because that is the function of 卻。
❷ 有 is the common character that is usually translated as to have or there is. It can also mean to exist. 趣 means interest, interesting, fun, or funny. So, literally the combination means the existence of something fun or interesting.
❸ 高 is the character that also means tall. In essence, 高興 means a high state of cheerfulness or happiness.
❹ 快 can mean either fast or happy.
❺ For more on vocabulary meaning common or mediocre see ㄧ家自命非凡的餐館 The Restaurant That Refused To Be Normal.
❻ 就 is explained in Chinese Lesson Blurb: Mastering 就
