"你很高兴,我也很高兴。"
Translation:You are happy, I am also happy.
145 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
So my understanding is that the meaning of 很, when used with adjectives, is much closer to "is" (it's used basically all the time without carrying much weight) BUT the behavior is much closer to "very", since if you pick another adjective it will replace 很, rather than being used in addition. Since in other situations it does mean "very" and it's important to get used to adjectives not requiring a verb to link them with the noun, most language courses seem to just teach it as "very" and then slowly wean you off translating every emotional state expressed in Chinese as extra intense ;)
I do think both translations should be allowed and would report any sentences that don't, though. The course staff do seem to be actively fleshing out the range of accepted translations based on that feedback :)
As a native speaker, who also consulted with other native speakers, I can vouch that the verb "to be" is often implied in Chinese. Therefore, contrary to so many people's claims, 很 is not needed to connect the subject (ex. 我) to the adjective (ex. 高兴). Think of the common questions 你好吗? or 你好不好? There's no "to be" or any verb in those sentences. The sentences 我病了, 我生病了 and 我有病 (literal translation "I have sickness.") all mean "I'm sick," but the first one contains NO verb. Therefore, please ONLY use 很 if you want to express "very." (Yes, people may use 很, similarly to the "very" used in "Very happy to meet you" without truly meaning it, as in being polite/welcoming, but this doesn't make 很 a connector word.)
1098
While 很 does mean "very," it does not have the same weight as English. In Chinese we throw 很 around like it's nothing. For instance, we can say something is 很大 (very large) when it's only somewhat large, whereas in English, "very large" must mean VERY large.
228
Sometimes people do mean "very," but you're right a lot of people use 很 without meaning it.
Tips and notes
When we want to describe something we don’t use the verb “to be”, we have to put something else before an adjective. The most common word used to do this is 很 hěn, which literally means very. It goes between the subject (who or what we are describing) and the adjective (what we are describing it as). Since 很 is used so often like this, it oftentimes doesn’t mean “very”, just a link between a noun and an adjective.
*Pinyin in brackets is the actual pronunciation as a result of the change of tone.
Chinese ----- Pinyin ----- English
我很好。----- Wǒ hěn[hén]* hǎo. ----- I'm good.
你很高兴。----- Nǐ[ní] hěn gāoxìng. ----- You are happy.
The word for “also” or “too” is much less flexible in Chinese than in English. It must always come after the subject and before the verb.
Chinese ----- Pinyin ----- English
我也认识你。----- Wǒ[wó] yě rènshi nǐ. ----- I also know you. / I know you, too.
我也很高兴。----- Wǒ yě[yé] hěn gāoxìng. ----- I am happy, also. / I am also happy.
也 can also be used in the phrase "If X is... then Y is (also) ..." Here we don't need to use 很.
Chinese ----- Pinyin ----- English
你高兴,我也高兴. ----- nǐ gāoxìng, wǒ[wó] yě gāoxìng. ----- If you are happy then I am happy.
你很高兴,我也很高兴。----- nǐ[ní] hěn gāoxìng, wǒ yě[yé] hěn gāo xìng. ----- You are happy, I am also happy.
我高兴,他也高兴。----- wǒ gāo xìng, tā yě gāoxìng ----- If I am happy then he is happy.
I'm a native Chinese speaker who's testing through the Duolingo Chinese program to review written Chinese. In Chinese, the verb is not necessary or can be implied by the adjective. Therefore, hen to me always means very. I can say I am happy with 我高兴. Also, "if" is not implied in "你高兴,我也高兴. ----- nǐ gāoxìng, wǒ[wó] yě gāoxìng. ----- If you are happy then I am happy" If someone said "你高兴,我也高兴" to me, I would understand it as "You're happy. I'm happy as well."
401
So if 很 is just a link between, for example, "I" and "happy", and doesn't mean "very"... how would one signify that "I am very happy"? Would this be 我很很高兴 ?
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Omg truth to be told; I always thought "hen" was "feel"; based on context (never learnt the text before; just had housemates who were really awesome and were teaching me some phrases ... however they were local South East Asians so it could be different... but I always found that assuming hěn was feel made many of the phrases make sense; "i feel warm" (wo hen re) wo hen hao (i feel good) etc
1719
Commas shouldn't be used here in the English translation. It should be either a semicolon or a period.
228
It does. (I'm a native speaker.) As many native speakers like to exaggerate things, 很 is used so frequently that its effect has faded so much that some native speakers simply assume people don't really mean"very" when using 很. This has led some native speakers who have learned some English grammar but haven't learned certain Chinese grammar to misunderstand 很 and think it's the counterpart of "to be" (it's not).
228
It'd be clearer to use add 如果 to the beginning of "you are happy" - 如果你很高兴,我也很高兴。 The word 如果 means "if." 如 means "follow," and 果 means "fruit; result." A way to remember 如果 is thinking of it as "follow the result of."
Hovering over the character for gao in this example shows "tall" and "high" as other translations of gao. Are these correct or is this a mistake? Does gao mean those things as well as "glad," "pleased," and happy? At the beginning of the lesson only hen was shown to also translate as "tall" and "high."
I'm no expert, but I am pretty sure that 高 does mean "tall" and "high." I think that when paired with different characters it shows different meanings as many characters can mean multiple things. I don't think that 很 ever means tall or high, though. Again, I haven't been learning Mandarin for very long, so I could be wrong about that, but I am almost certain that "tall" or "high" can be a translation for 高but not for “很." Hopefully, that was correct and helpful and not just me typing nonsense.
228
高 means "tall," "high," etc. It doesn't mean "glad," "pleased," nor "happy"; however, when paired with 兴, which means "delight," here comes 高兴, which means "high level of delight," "happy," etc. 很 means "very"; it doesn't mean "tall" nor "high."
228
高: high, tall
兴: interest, delight
快: (things going) smoothly, smooth
乐: happy
They're pretty similar, but 高兴 indicates a higher level of happiness, even excitement while 快乐 emphasizes how things are going smoothly and going well.
Native speaker here. Many learners are confused about why “很” is not translated "very" here. In a "subject + 很 + adjective" structure, “很” is a linking verb meaning "to be". It only means "very" when a verb is present in a sentence. I.e “I feel very good” is “我感觉很好”. "I sing very well" as “我很会唱” or "我唱歌很好" . There are other different types of linking verbs as well such as "了”,“过了”. The rule of thumb is, there has to be one and only one verb in a simple sentence, contrary to a complex sentence.
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Please see my post regarding 很: https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/25268640?comment_id=39552216
904
In the example page I could swear they translate the first part as "IF you are happy..." If I am correct, why there and not here?
There is a small difference between the sentences. Watch for the 很 (hěn) character! It literally means "very", but can affect sentence meaning in other ways.
Examples (from Tips and Notes):
This sentence DOES NOT HAVE 很 (hěn), and translates WITH IF... 你高兴,我也高兴。nǐ gāoxìng, wǒ yě gāoxìng. If you are happy then I am happy.
This sentence DOES HAVE 很 (hěn), and translates WITHOUT IF... 你很高兴,我也很高兴。nǐ hěn gāoxìng, wǒ yě hěn gāo xìng. You are happy, I am also happy.
As a native speaker, who also consulted with other native speakers, I can vouch that the verb "to be" is often implied in Chinese. Therefore, contrary to so many people's claims, 很 is not needed to connect the subject (ex. 我) to the adjective (ex. 高兴). Think of the common questions 你好吗? or 你好不好? There's no "to be" or any verb in those sentences. The sentences 我病了, 我生病了 and 我有病 (literal translation "I have sickness.") all mean "I'm sick," but the first one contains NO verb. Therefore, please ONLY use 很 if you want to express "very." (Yes, people may use 很, similarly to the "very" used in "Very happy to meet you" without truly meaning it, as in being polite/welcoming, but this doesn't make 很 a connector word.)
3043
I wonder if when you want 很 to mean "very" in this sentence you have to provide the verb 是 - as in 我是很高兴。 Or would you have to say 我是很地高兴。 Does anyone know?
iirc, the use of 很 and similar modifiers is often a consideration of cadence, rhythm, etc. it doesn't sound right to a native speaker if the wrong number of syllables are spoken. Kinda like in English songs, where you things are described as "old" or preceded with a "this" or "that", because the line has fewer beats than the melody.
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Sorry. This is the kind of thing you'd say if you were on drugs. You are happy! I am happy!
602
Does it imply that "as long as" you are happy, I'm happy too? Could I use this sentence with that in mind?
425
Duo must have known I wasn't having a good day. Thank you for bringing positive vibes my way! <3