Tell me more ×
Chinese Language & Usage Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for students, teachers, and linguists wanting to discuss the finer points of the Chinese language. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 8 down vote favorite
1

I've read that when asked the simple question 你好吗？ ("how are you?"), answering 我很好 is the standard form, while 我好 is simply not used.

很 means "very", but 我很好 is simply translated as "I'm fine." and not "I'm very fine".

So if I want to say "I feel very good/I'm very fine", what should I say? Should I duplicate 很 or use another expression?

share|improve this question
just say 很好 without 你 – AntiGameZ Dec 14 '11 at 1:22

4 Answers

up vote 9 down vote accepted

There is "我非常好" I'm extremely well, or I'm extremely good.

There is also "我非常开心" I'm extremely happy.

Maybe if you want to aim for something a little more subtle you could try "我很开心" I'm very happy.

If you are mentioning that you are this "good" you will likely be asked for an explanation!

share|improve this answer
Ah! I even knew the 非常 expression! :D 谢谢你！ – Alenanno♦ Dec 13 '11 at 22:31
up vote 2 down vote

You could use 非常好 - 非常 is simply a modifier to take an adjective to the extreme, and 非常好 is a fairly common phrase.

share|improve this answer
Hello Zann, my question is tagged with "Mandarin", so you're not really answering my question. You can put your answer in a comment under my question though, if you wish to help those who learn Cantonese. – Alenanno♦ Dec 13 '11 at 22:21
1  
Actually, 飛上好 is a phrase that's common to both Mandarin and Cantonese, but I'll remove the Cantonese phrase, thanks. – Zannjaminderson Dec 13 '11 at 22:28
Pardon my ignorance, but I was wrong about the specific characters used in this phrase. My answer has been changed from using 飛上 to 非常, the same as @xiaohouzi79. – Zannjaminderson Dec 13 '11 at 22:39
up vote 6 down vote

Other ways of saying "I'm good" without emphasizing ("very") is "还行", "还好", "还可以", "还不错".

Generally, you can only find the "你好吗？我很好" type of dialogs in textbooks. Chinese people greeting each other generally do not say "我很好" at all.

share|improve this answer
up vote 1 down vote

很 does mean very but not always and not literally.
It's widely used in chinese for emphasis, for example consider 很多 which means many and not too many or in excess.

share|improve this answer

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.