Ch 2 · Lesson 32Mandarin · Chapter 2 · Lesson 32 · Grammar primer
我很好: adjectives need no 是 (shì)
Mandarin adjectives work like verbs, so 'I am cold' is (wǒ hěn lěng), never . (hěn) is mostly padding rather than 'very', and the negative is (bù).
The short version
Mandarin adjectives are verbs, so drop the
。Wǒ hěn lěng.
Why?Hide
'I am cold' is (wǒ hěn lěng), never (wǒ shì lěng). (lěng) already means 'to be cold', so the copula has nothing left to do. The (hěn) is not really 'very' here: a bare (wǒ lěng) sounds clipped or contrastive, and (hěn) turns it into a plain statement. The negative needs no (hěn) at all: (wǒ bù lěng).
。Wǒ hěn lěng.
Why?Hide
The (hěn) sitting in front of every adjective is a smoothing word, not an intensifier. A bare (wǒ lèi) sounds unfinished, as if a comparison were coming; (wǒ hěn lèi) is the flat everyday statement. When you genuinely mean 'very', reach for (fēi cháng), (zhēn) or the (tài)… (le) frame instead.
The core principle
Mandarin adjectives behave like verbs. They are the predicate of a sentence by themselves, with no (shì):
| Hanzi | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
。 | Wǒ hěn lěng. | I'm cold |
。 | Zhège hěn hǎo. | This one is good |
。 | Zhōngwén hěn nán. | Chinese is hard |
Four labels, four whole predicates: 很 hěn plus the adjective, with no 是 shì. 苹果很大 píngguǒ hěn dà, the apple is big.
Inserting (shì) is wrong: 。 is not Mandarin. (shì) links a noun to a noun, and that is its whole job here:
。(Wǒ shì lǎoshī.) - I'm a teacher.
The technical name for these words is stative verbs. They negate like verbs and question like verbs:
？(Nǐ lèi ma?) - Are you tired?
The 很 (hěn) filler
A bare adjective sounds like the first half of a comparison. That is useful when you mean a comparison:
，。(Tā gāo, wǒ bù gāo.) - He's tall; I'm not.
For a plain statement, put (hěn) in front. It usually means "very", but here it is nearly empty:
| Hanzi | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
。 | Wǒ hěn lèi. | I'm tired |
。 | Tā hěn máng. | He's busy |
。 | Jīntiān hěn lěng. | It's cold today |
Pronoun, 很 hěn, adjective: no 是 shì in any of them. Ill is 病了 bìng le, a new state, with the 了 le further down this page.
After work you say (wǒ hěn lèi), I'm tired. (wǒ lèi) on its own sounds unfinished, as if a contrast were coming.
When you really mean "very"
Reach for a stronger word than (hěn):
| Word | Pinyin | Example | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| fēicháng | 。 | I'm really tired | |
| zhēn | ！ | That's really good! | |
| ... | tài...le | ！ | It's too expensive! |
| tèbié | 。 | It's especially cold today |
... (tài...le) is often a complaint, "too much", but with a happy adjective it is delight: ！(Tài hǎo le!), brilliant!
Negation: 不 (bù), not 没 (méi)
Adjectives negate with (bù), and (hěn) drops out:
| Hanzi | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
。 | Wǒ bù lěng. | I'm not cold |
。 | Zhège bù hǎo. | This one isn't good |
。 | Zhōngwén bù nán. | Chinese isn't hard |
For "not very", everyday speech says (bú tài):
。(Jīntiān bú tài lěng.) - It isn't very cold today.
(méi) enters only to deny a change of state, and usually with (hái), still:
。(Tiān hái méi hēi.) - It hasn't got dark yet.
For the plain "I'm not cold", it is always (wǒ bù lěng). The negation page has the full and split.
Going further: The whole picture and the rest of the guide, when you want them. This lesson does not need them.
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Lesson 32 of 44 in this chapter