1 · 40 words

Basic adjectives

Big and small, hot and cold, cheap and dear: the first words for describing things.

A Chinese adjective does the work of a verb on its own: there is no 是(shì) in 我(wǒ)很(hěn)忙(máng), “I am busy”. The 很(hěn) in that sentence is there mostly for rhythm; leave it out and the sentence sounds like a comparison (我(wǒ)忙(máng), “I'm the busy one”). With 了(le) an adjective says that something has changed: 你(nǐ)瘦(shòu)了(le), “you've lost weight”.

The words

Adverb (2)

很(hěn)veryAdverb1

我(wǒ)很(hěn)好(hǎo)，谢谢(xièxie)。I'm fine, thanks.

Before an adjective it often adds little more than rhythm.

最(zuì)most; -estAdverb1

这(zhè)是(shì)我(wǒ)最(zuì)喜欢(xǐhuan)的(de)菜(cài)。This is my favourite dish.

This list belongs to The scaffolding — 21 lists and 842 words that can also be practised as a whole.

Practise this list

Multiple choice and gaps, drawn from exactly these 40 words. Whatever you get wrong comes back tomorrow.