very in Chinese

How to write 很

Animated stroke order — tap a character to replay. Look up any character's stroke order → Printable writing worksheet for 很 →

很 is listed in the official HSK vocabulary at HSK 1. The beginner band covers the first, most essential words every learner needs.

很 in a sentence

• 今jīn天tiān很hěn热rè。

  Today is very hot.

• 她tā很hěn高gāo兴xīng。

  She is very happy.

• 这zhè个gè苹píng果guǒ很hěn大dà。

  This apple is very big.

很 vs 太 vs 非常 vs 真

Similar and easily confused words, and how they differ.

• 太 tài too; extremely

  'Too much', with an edge of excess — 太贵了 'too expensive!'. 很 is the neutral linker — 很好 often just means 'good'.

• 非常 fēi cháng extremely

  Genuinely emphatic 'extremely' — 非常感谢 'thank you very much'. Stronger than 很, which is often just grammatical filler.

• 真 zhēn really; truly

  Casual 'really' — 真好吃 'so tasty!'. 很 is default and neutral; 真 adds real feeling.