<p>in this case, 很 is functioning the same as auxiliary words in english like am or is.  the english itself contains such a word &quot;I <em>am</em> happy to help you.&quot; Are you going to also try to avoid using this type of auxiliary grammar word in english? The chinese versions of these words are all similar in functions (although not exactly the same).</p>
<p>You can use 很 as a nuetral auxiliary, or to say very-- again I compare to english, I can say &quot;It's <em>quite</em> chilly out, isn't it?&quot; the quite isn't really telling you the degree of chill, just that its chilly enough to be worth mentioning.  So is 很.  It not necessarily a degree of how happy you are to help, just telling you that its definitely there and notable.</p>
<p>If you want to avoid 很, you could say 我完全支持你 or some similar phrase.  But again just like you don't want to limit yourself to never saying am or is in english, try not to avoid saying 很-- its a perfectly normal word, and there is a reason its so common in its uses-- its a very useful auxiliary!  （＾ν＾）</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-04-25T17:02:16.997Z
2024-04-25T17:09:25.627Z
2024-04-25T17:09:25.627Z
zagrycha
<p>I found <a href="https://tieba.baidu.com/p/6575788985" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this</a> interesting in this regard:</p>
<p>“很”、“非常”表示 very 的意思，<br />
“很”、“非常”express the meaning of 'very',<br />
这是字典的解释。<br />
this is the dictionary explanation.<br />
现实中，<br />
In reality,<br />
我们在用“很”的时候，<br />
when we use “很”,<br />
并不是很在意它的程度，<br />
(we) definitely do not pay attention to its (meaning of) degree,<br />
甚至仅仅把“很”当成一个连接词，<br />
sometimes (we) even only use “很”as a conjunction,<br />
相当于“是”，<br />
equivalent to “是”，<br />
比如“他很开心”，<br />
for example “他很开心”，<br />
意思就是“He is happy&quot;而不是&quot;He is very happy”，<br />
the meaning is “He is happy&quot; not &quot;He is very happy”，<br />
除非“很”重读。<br />
(we) only (use) “很”for stress.<br />
为什么会有这样的现象呢？<br />
Why does such a phenomenon exist?<br />
我提出一个假说：“很”来自于原始汉语（类似于独龙语、韩语、羌语等），<br />
I propose a hypothesis: “很”comes from primitive Chinese (similar to Dulong, Korean, Qiang etc.)<br />
本来是一个格助词，<br />
Originally it was a case marker,<br />
相当于韩语的은/는，<br />
equivalent to Korean 은/는，<br />
意思是表示它之前的成分是主语。<br />
(The) meaning is to express that the preceding phrase is the subject.</p>
<p>如：他는开心。<br />
As: He 는 happy.<br />
表示主语是“他”，谓语是“开心”，<br />
(It, 는 ) expresses  “他”is the subject，(and the) predicate is “开心”，<br />
丝毫没有程度的意思。<br />
(It, 는 ) does not possess any meaning of degree.<br />
后来被字典解释成“很”/“非常”，<br />
Later “很”/“非常”were given the dictionary explanation (of degree),<br />
是因为在某个朝代，<br />
because in some dynasty,<br />
主要的民族从汉转为了比如“侗台”、“南亚”（例如汉朝），<br />
(the) main ethnic group changed from Han to, for example, Dongtai, Nanya, (e.g. Han Dynasty)<br />
这些民族的分析语中没有格助词，<br />
these ethnic groups, when they analysed language, did not regard case particles,<br />
所以就把汉语原来的格助词，<br />
therefore, (for) the original Han case particles,<br />
解释成了程度副词。<br />
the explanation became &quot;adverb of degree&quot;</p>
<p>As to &quot;very&quot;, &quot;very&quot; means &quot;true&quot;.</p>
<p>very(adj)</p>
<p>late 13c., verray &quot;true, real, genuine,&quot; later &quot;actual, sheer&quot; (late 14c.), from Anglo-French verrai, Old French verai &quot;true, truthful, sincere; right, just, legal,&quot; from Vulgar Latin *veracus, from Latin verax (genitive veracis) &quot;truthful,&quot; from verus &quot;true&quot;</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-04-25T17:12:40.703Z
2024-04-25T17:12:40.703Z
Pedroski
<p>The so-called &quot;gradable adjectives&quot; like &quot;beautiful&quot;, &quot;clever&quot;, &quot;fat&quot;, &quot;tall&quot;...etc. involve a notional domain with a high degree centre which we can go towards, but can never reach. As the saying goes, &quot;There is no such thing as the best one, only the better&quot;. Even if one says &quot;She is very, very, very beautiful&quot; or &quot;She is extremely beautiful&quot;, she may not be more beautiful than when one says &quot;She is simply beautiful&quot;.</p>
<p>In Chinese, Mandarin or dialects, when we use a gradable adjective of this kind, we need to provide a reference device, otherwise we don't know where we are in the notional domain (i.e. Are we inside, at the border, or even outside?).</p>
<p>The reference device can be in the form of comparison or contrast:</p>
<ol>
<li>他有两个女儿，大女儿聪明，小女儿漂亮。</li>
</ol>
<p>It can be in the form of juxtaposition:</p>
<ol start="2">
<li>小张既年轻又能干。</li>
</ol>
<p>It can be in the form of a question where there are two values (positive and negative):</p>
<ol start="3">
<li>这个学生聪明吗?</li>
<li>他能干？谁说的？</li>
</ol>
<p>If there is no constructed reference device, we use the high degree centre itself as the reference point: &quot;In the domain of 'being beautiful', we are at a point going towards the centre&quot;:</p>
<ol start="5">
<li>她很漂亮/她挺漂亮/她有点漂亮... etc. (很，挺 or 有點 indicates &quot;going towards the centre.)</li>
</ol>
<p>We can also be at a point going against the centre:</p>
<ol start="6">
<li>她不漂亮/她不大漂亮 (But *他不很漂亮 sounds contradictory, because &quot;不“ indicates &quot;going against&quot; while &quot;很&quot; indicates &quot;going towards&quot;.</li>
</ol>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-04-27T14:59:44.100Z
2024-04-27T15:05:04.293Z
2024-04-27T15:05:04.293Z
KK_Tse
<p>Yes, <em>semantic bleaching</em> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammaticalization" rel="nofollow noreferrer">is a thing</a>. And it has basically already happened to 很 in Modern Standard Mandarin. Note <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/41475325" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this assertion</a>, which most grammars of Modern Standard Mandarin will adhere to:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Under some conditions, gradable adjectives in Mandarin must co-occur with overt degree morphology (most neutrally, <em>hen</em> ‘very’) for positive interpretation; otherwise, a comparative interpretation results.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Thus, the following, with its bare 'naked' adjective,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>这个人高。</p>
<p><em>Zhè ge rén gāo.</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p>... does not mean a generic &quot;This person is tall&quot;, it means &quot;<em>This person</em> (with contrastive emphasis, in contrast to someone else previously mentioned) is tall&quot;.</p>
<p>Instead, for a generic statement, 很 must be added. Note though, that more complex sentence structures may or may not feature 很:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>他不高。vs *他不很高。(negation)</p>
<p>他高吗？ vs 他很高吗？ (polar yes/no question)</p>
<p>他高，我矮。 vs 他很高，我很矮。(explicit comparison and/or contrast)</p>
<p>*他一直高 vs 他一直很高 (with an adverb; 很 is generally required for a neutral meaning)</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Whether this &quot;very / be&quot; distinction is critical to the &quot;meaning&quot; is a separate question. This can be answered simply by examining the range and frequency of the &quot;very&quot; equivalents: most Mandarin speakers do not have an issue with requiring an &quot;empty&quot; 很 to be added in most &quot;generic&quot; positive sentences, and would use other words to emphasise the nature of the adjective <em>if such emphasis is needed</em>, such as 非常, 特别, 真的很.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-04-25T17:30:05.817Z
2024-04-25T17:30:05.817Z
Michaelyus
<p>If we put the following English sentence in a translator, we get this:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I am happy to support you -&gt; 我<strong>很</strong>高兴支持你</p>
</blockquote>
<p>However, &quot;很&quot; means &quot;very&quot;, and there is no &quot;very&quot; in the sentence above. In fact, the translation of &quot;I am very happy to support you&quot; is also &quot;我很高兴支持你&quot;.</p>
<p>So, if someone tells me &quot;我很高兴支持你&quot;, do they mean &quot;happy&quot; or &quot;very happy&quot;? And what is a better translation of &quot;I am happy to support you&quot; without the confusion of involving &quot;很/very&quot;？</p>

<translation><adverbs><ambiguity>
The language function of "很" as non-adverb
# The language function of "很" as non-adverb

(Asked by: username_0 on 2024-04-25)

If we put the following English sentence in a translator, we get this:

> I am happy to support you -> 我**很**高兴支持你

However, "很" means "very", and there is no "very" in the sentence above. In fact, the translation of "I am very happy to support you" is also "我很高兴支持你".

So, if someone tells me "我很高兴支持你", do they mean "happy" or "very happy"? And what is a better translation of "I am happy to support you" without the confusion of involving "很/very"？

**Tags:** translation, adverbs, ambiguity


---

## 4 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2024-04-25. Score: 4 | Accepted answer

Yes, *semantic bleaching* [is a thing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammaticalization). And it has basically already happened to 很 in Modern Standard Mandarin. Note [this assertion](https://www.jstor.org/stable/41475325), which most grammars of Modern Standard Mandarin will adhere to:

> Under some conditions, gradable adjectives in Mandarin must co-occur with overt degree morphology (most neutrally, *hen* ‘very’) for positive interpretation; otherwise, a comparative interpretation results.

Thus, the following, with its bare 'naked' adjective,

> 这个人高。
>
> *Zhè ge rén gāo.*

... does not mean a generic "This person is tall", it means "*This person* (with contrastive emphasis, in contrast to someone else previously mentioned) is tall".

Instead, for a generic statement, 很 must be added. Note though, that more complex sentence structures may or may not feature 很:

> 他不高。vs \*他不很高。(negation)
>
> 他高吗？ vs 他很高吗？ (polar yes/no question)
>
> 他高，我矮。 vs 他很高，我很矮。(explicit comparison and/or contrast)
>
> \*他一直高 vs 他一直很高 (with an adverb; 很 is generally required for a neutral meaning)

Whether this "very / be" distinction is critical to the "meaning" is a separate question. This can be answered simply by examining the range and frequency of the "very" equivalents: most Mandarin speakers do not have an issue with requiring an "empty" 很 to be added in most "generic" positive sentences, and would use other words to emphasise the nature of the adjective *if such emphasis is needed*, such as 非常, 特别, 真的很.


---

### Answer by username_1 on 2024-04-25. Score: 1

in this case, 很 is functioning the same as auxiliary words in english like am or is. the english itself contains such a word "I *am* happy to help you." Are you going to also try to avoid using this type of auxiliary grammar word in english? The chinese versions of these words are all similar in functions (although not exactly the same).

You can use 很 as a nuetral auxiliary, or to say very-- again I compare to english, I can say "It's *quite* chilly out, isn't it?" the quite isn't really telling you the degree of chill, just that its chilly enough to be worth mentioning. So is 很. It not necessarily a degree of how happy you are to help, just telling you that its definitely there and notable.

If you want to avoid 很, you could say 我完全支持你 or some similar phrase. But again just like you don't want to limit yourself to never saying am or is in english, try not to avoid saying 很-- its a perfectly normal word, and there is a reason its so common in its uses-- its a very useful auxiliary! （＾ν＾）


---

### Answer by username_2 on 2024-04-25. Score: 0

I found [this](https://tieba.baidu.com/p/6575788985) interesting in this regard:

“很”、“非常”表示 very 的意思，  
“很”、“非常”express the meaning of 'very',  
这是字典的解释。  
this is the dictionary explanation.  
现实中，  
In reality,  
我们在用“很”的时候，  
when we use “很”,  
并不是很在意它的程度，  
(we) definitely do not pay attention to its (meaning of) degree,  
甚至仅仅把“很”当成一个连接词，  
sometimes (we) even only use “很”as a conjunction,  
相当于“是”，  
equivalent to “是”，  
比如“他很开心”，  
for example “他很开心”，  
意思就是“He is happy"而不是"He is very happy”，  
the meaning is “He is happy" not "He is very happy”，  
除非“很”重读。  
(we) only (use) “很”for stress.  
为什么会有这样的现象呢？  
Why does such a phenomenon exist?  
我提出一个假说：“很”来自于原始汉语（类似于独龙语、韩语、羌语等），  
I propose a hypothesis: “很”comes from primitive Chinese (similar to Dulong, Korean, Qiang etc.)  
本来是一个格助词，  
Originally it was a case marker,  
相当于韩语的은/는，  
equivalent to Korean 은/는，  
意思是表示它之前的成分是主语。  
(The) meaning is to express that the preceding phrase is the subject.

如：他는开心。  
As: He 는 happy.  
表示主语是“他”，谓语是“开心”，  
(It, 는 ) expresses “他”is the subject，(and the) predicate is “开心”，  
丝毫没有程度的意思。  
(It, 는 ) does not possess any meaning of degree.  
后来被字典解释成“很”/“非常”，  
Later “很”/“非常”were given the dictionary explanation (of degree),  
是因为在某个朝代，  
because in some dynasty,  
主要的民族从汉转为了比如“侗台”、“南亚”（例如汉朝），  
(the) main ethnic group changed from Han to, for example, Dongtai, Nanya, (e.g. Han Dynasty)  
这些民族的分析语中没有格助词，  
these ethnic groups, when they analysed language, did not regard case particles,  
所以就把汉语原来的格助词，  
therefore, (for) the original Han case particles,  
解释成了程度副词。  
the explanation became "adverb of degree"

As to "very", "very" means "true".

very(adj)

late 13c., verray "true, real, genuine," later "actual, sheer" (late 14c.), from Anglo-French verrai, Old French verai "true, truthful, sincere; right, just, legal," from Vulgar Latin \*veracus, from Latin verax (genitive veracis) "truthful," from verus "true"


---

### Answer by username_3 on 2024-04-27. Score: 0

The so-called "gradable adjectives" like "beautiful", "clever", "fat", "tall"...etc. involve a notional domain with a high degree centre which we can go towards, but can never reach. As the saying goes, "There is no such thing as the best one, only the better". Even if one says "She is very, very, very beautiful" or "She is extremely beautiful", she may not be more beautiful than when one says "She is simply beautiful".

In Chinese, Mandarin or dialects, when we use a gradable adjective of this kind, we need to provide a reference device, otherwise we don't know where we are in the notional domain (i.e. Are we inside, at the border, or even outside?).

The reference device can be in the form of comparison or contrast:

1. 他有两个女儿，大女儿聪明，小女儿漂亮。

It can be in the form of juxtaposition:

2. 小张既年轻又能干。

It can be in the form of a question where there are two values (positive and negative):

3. 这个学生聪明吗?
4. 他能干？谁说的？

If there is no constructed reference device, we use the high degree centre itself as the reference point: "In the domain of 'being beautiful', we are at a point going towards the centre":

5. 她很漂亮/她挺漂亮/她有点漂亮... etc. (很，挺 or 有點 indicates "going towards the centre.)

We can also be at a point going against the centre:

6. 她不漂亮/她不大漂亮 (But \*他不很漂亮 sounds contradictory, because "不“ indicates "going against" while "很" indicates "going towards".


---

