Degree Adverbs: 當, 忒, 恁 and 真

01

當 — Very

當 (dongˋtông) is the everyday word for very and the one to reach for by default. It stands immediately before the adjective with nothing between them, and it is by a wide margin the commonest adverb in ordinary speech.

• 當歡喜摎你認識。

  dongˋ fonˋ hiˊ lauˋ ngi nginˇ shidtông fôn hí lâu ngì ngin shit

  I'm very happy to meet you.

• 𠊎感覺當好！

  ngai gamˊ gog dongˋ hoˊngài kám kok tông hó

  I feel great!

• 天時當冷。

  tienˋ shi dongˋ langˋthiên shì tông lâng

  The weather is very cold.

Its force is milder than English very suggests. It is closer to marking an adjective as a straightforward statement than to insisting on an extreme, which is why it turns up in sentences an English speaker would leave bare.

• 這水當冷。

  liaˊ shuiˊ dongˋ langˋliá shúi tông lâng

  This water is very cold.

02

忒 — Too Much

忒 (tedthet) says the quality has gone past what is wanted. It very often appears with a sentence-final particle marking a new situation, since noticing that something is too expensive is usually a discovery made on the spot.

• 這忒貴了。

  liaˊ ted guiˇ leˋliá thet kui lê

  This is too expensive.

• 佢忒細了。

  gi ted seˇ leˋkì thet se lê

  It's too small.

• 毋好等忒久。

  m hoˊ denˊ ted giuˊm̀ hó tén thet kiú

  Don't wait too long.

03

恁 — So, That Much

恁 (anˇan) points back at a degree already established in the conversation, in the way English that expensive or so much refers to something just said or just seen. It is not a general intensifier and cannot stand in for 當 (dongˋtông).

• 𠊎一般無食恁多麥酒。

  ngai rhid banˋ mo shidˋ anˇ doˋ magˋ ziuˊngài yit pân mò shi̍t an tô ma̍k tsiú

  I usually don't drink so much beer.

04

真 — Really

真 (zhinˋchîn) is a fourth intensifier, and the one to reach for when reacting to something rather than simply describing it. It stands in the same slot in front of the adjective. Followed by 个 (gaiˇkai) it stops being an adverb altogether and means true.

• 真好。

  zhinˋ hoˊchîn hó

  It's wonderful.

• 該垤餅真甜。

  gai deˇ biangˊ zhinˋ tiamkài te piáng chîn thiàm

  That cookie tastes really sweet.

• 毋過這係真个！

  m goˇ liaˊ heˇ zhinˋ gaiˇm̀ ko liá he chîn kai

  But it's true!

05

Where They Stand

All of these come before the adjective, never after it. There is no adverb corresponding to an English one placed after the word it modifies, so the order is stable and worth fixing early. The same slot in front of the adjective is where a comparison is marked too.