Degree Adverbs: 當, 忒, 恁 and 真

01

當 — Very

當 (dongˊtông) 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.

• 當歡喜同你認識。

  dongˊ fonˊ hiˋ tungˇ nˇ ngin siidˋtông fôn hí thùng ǹ ngin sṳt

  I'm very happy to meet you.

• 𠊎感覺當好！

  ngaiˇ gamˋ gogˋ dongˊ hoˋngài kám kok tông hó

  I feel great!

• 天時當冷。

  tienˊ siiˇ dongˊ langˊthiên sṳ̀ 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。

  iaˋ suiˋ dongˊ langˊyá súi tông lâng

  This water is very cold.

The same syllable has a second job in front of a progressive, where it means right now rather than very. What follows tells them apart: an adjective, or an action under way.

• 計程車當在該等。

  gie cangˇ caˊ dongˊ di ge denˋkie chhàng chhâ tông ti ke tén

  The taxi is waiting right now.

02

忒 — Too Much

忒 (tedˋthet) 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。

  iaˋ tedˋ gui leˋyá thet kui lé

  This is too expensive.

• 佢忒細了。

  giˇ tedˋ se leˋkì thet se lé

  It's too small.

• 毋好等忒久。

  mˇ hoˋ denˋ tedˋ giuˋm̀ hó tén thet kiú

  Don't wait too long.

03

恁 — So, That Much

恁 (anˋán) 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 (dongˊtông).

• 𠊎一般無食恁多麥酒。

  ngaiˇ idˋ banˊ moˇ siid anˋ doˊ mag jiuˋngài yit pân mò sṳ̍t án tô ma̍k chiú

  I usually don't drink so much beer.

04

真 — Really

真 (ziinˊchṳ̂n) 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 (geke) it stops being an adverb altogether and means true.

• 真好。

  ziinˊ hoˋchṳ̂n hó

  It's wonderful.

• 該垤餅仔真甜。

  ge de biangˋ eˇ ziinˊ tiamˇke te piáng è chṳ̂n thiàm

  That cookie tastes really sweet.

• 毋過這係真个！

  mˇ go iaˋ he ziinˊ gem̀ ko yá he chṳ̂n ke

  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.