很

hěn

very; quite

(also, often used before an adjective without intensifying its meaning, i.e. as a meaningless syntactic element)

step (彳) + sound (艮) = very

艮 gives the sound hěn; 彳 is the step radical, originally suggesting movement or conduct. In modern use, 很 has drifted far from any literal sense and simply intensifies adjectives.

彳+艮→很
彳StepSemantic
艮StubbornPhonetic

今天天气很好,适合出门。

jīn tiān tiān qì hěn hǎo,shì hé chū mén。

The weather is very nice today, suitable for going out.

这道题看起来很难,但我还是做出来了。

zhè dào tí kàn qǐ lái hěn nán,dàn wǒ hái shì zuò chū lái le。

This problem looks quite difficult, but I still managed to solve it.

Words with 很

不很

bù hěn

not very

很是

hěn shì

(formal) very; quite; deeply (usu. followed by a two-syllable adjective or verb)

得很

de hěn

(after an adjective) very

More characters with 彳

彻德徽屦微