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很 + adjective: "is big", "is good"

Adjectives work like verbs in Chinese. Put 很 before them: 她很忙 "she is busy". No 是 needed.

In Chinese an adjective can be the whole predicate. You do not need a word for "is".

A bare adjective sounds like a comparison (他高 "he is the taller one"), so speakers add 很 as a neutral link. Here 很 often does not mean "very".

Negate with 不 and drop 很: 天气不好 "the weather is not good".

Pattern: Subject + 很 + adjective

Practice this lesson

Updated October 21, 2026

Examples

• 今天很冷。 Jīntiān hěn lěng.
  It is cold today.
• 这个很好吃。 Zhège hěn hǎochī.
  This is tasty.

In real sentences

• 很好！
  That's good.
  Tatoeba: arabela
• 很多!
  That's a lot!
  Tatoeba: mavaddat
• 很棒！
  Wonderful!
  Tatoeba: mirrorvan
• 很冷。
  It's so cold.
  Tatoeba: FishlandicFishy
• 天很冷。
  It's cold.
  Tatoeba: fucongcong
• 他很凶。
  He is mean.
  Tatoeba: fucongcong

Before this lesson

This unlocks after: HSK 1 Describing words 1, The four tones.

← 不 (bù): saying "not"