How to use 很
很 + Verb
很 can modify certain predicates involving feelings, attitudes, or mental states, not only adjectives. With a suitable verb, it increases the degree of affection, concern, desire, or understanding being described. The subject comes first, followed by 很 and the predicate, while any object remains attached to the relevant verb.
English may use “really” or “very much” instead of placing “very” directly before a verb. Do not use that English word order as a reason to reject the Chinese structure. At the same time, 很 does not freely intensify every ordinary action verb. Learn the common combinations and check that the predicate expresses something that naturally varies in degree, rather than simply naming an action.
Examples with pinyin and English
我很想你。
I really miss you.
他很喜欢你。
He really likes you.
你应该很小心。
You should be very careful.
我很怕晚上一个人在家。
I fear staying home alone at night.
What to remember
- Use 很 with suitable graded mental predicates.
- Keep the verb's object after it.
- Do not extend the pattern to every action.
Practise the pattern
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Source and editorial notes
Explanation rewritten for Laowai. Examples are adapted from the Laowai English grammar curriculum, with editorial corrections where needed. The original curriculum credits AllSet Learning’s Chinese Grammar Wiki as used with permission. Read the retained source credits.
Difficulty labels describe the level of the explanation; they are not official HSK placement. Send a correction with this page’s URL.