Once you know とても ("very"), it is tempting to treat every other intensifier as a synonym for it. Resist that. かなり, 非常に and もっと each add something とても cannot: かなり concedes that something is stronger than you'd expect, 非常に is register-marked as bookish and formal, and もっと is not an absolute intensifier at all — it is comparative, meaning "more, relative to a baseline." This page places the three on the intensity scale so you reach for the right one instead of stacking とても everywhere.
The intensity ladder
Japanese degree adverbs form a rough scale. Native speakers won't all agree on the exact ranking of the middle rungs — this is genuinely fuzzy — but the shape is stable enough to memorize:
| Adverb | Rough force | Register |
|---|---|---|
| 少し / ちょっと | a little | ちょっと casual |
| まあまあ | so-so, passably | casual |
| けっこう | fairly, pretty | casual–neutral |
| とても / すごく | very | すごく casual |
| かなり | quite, considerably | neutral |
| 非常に | extremely, exceedingly | formal / written |
| 極めて（きわめて） | utterly, in the extreme | very formal / literary |
The everyday high-intensity words とても and すごく are covered on their own page — see とても vs すごく. Here we take the three rungs that behave differently from a plain "very."
かなり — "quite / considerably" (more than expected)
かなり means the thing is substantially so — comfortably past "very." What sets it apart from とても is a faint nuance of exceeding a baseline expectation: not just "very expensive," but "expensive to a degree that's worth remarking on." Because of that, かなり pairs beautifully with 思ったより ("more than I thought").
この漢字はかなり難しい。
kono kanji wa kanari muzukashii
This kanji is quite hard.
駅から歩くと、かなり時間がかかるよ。
eki kara aruku to, kanari jikan ga kakaru yo
If you walk from the station, it takes quite a while.
思ったより、かなり高かった。
omotta yori, kanari takakatta
It was considerably more expensive than I thought.
かなり is register-neutral and fine in most contexts, though it leans slightly conversational. In genuinely formal writing, its close cousin 相当（そうとう） "considerably" (formal) is often preferred.
Do not confuse かなり with けっこう ("pretty, fairly," casual–neutral). けっこう often carries a whiff of pleasant surprise or "more than enough" — "it turned out to be pretty good, actually." かなり is a notch stronger and more matter-of-fact.
この仕事、けっこう大変だよ。
kono shigoto, kekkō taihen da yo
This job is pretty tough, actually.
準備にかなり時間がかかった。
junbi ni kanari jikan ga kakatta
The preparation took considerably longer than you'd think.
非常に — "extremely / exceedingly" (formal)
非常に is the bookish "extremely." Literally it is 非 ("not") + 常 ("ordinary, usual") + に — "to a degree that is not ordinary." (The same 非常 shows up in 非常口, "emergency exit" — the not-ordinary door.) Keep that image: 非常に marks something as extraordinary, and it does so in a formal or written register. You'll hear it in announcements, read it in reports, and see it in academic prose — but between friends it sounds stiff.
これは非常に重要な問題です。
kore wa hijō ni jūyō na mondai desu
This is an extremely important issue.
トンネル内は非常に危険ですので、ご注意ください。
tonneru nai wa hijō ni kiken desu node, go-chūi kudasai
It is extremely dangerous inside the tunnel, so please take care.
もっと — "more" (always comparative)
Here is the one that trips English speakers up, because "more" in English can drift toward "very" ("I want it so much more"). もっと never does that. It is inherently comparative: it means more than the current amount, more than that other thing, more than now. There is always an implied baseline — even when it is unstated.
もっと大きい声で話してもらえますか。
motto ōkii koe de hanashite moraemasu ka
Could you speak in a louder voice?
すみません、もっとゆっくり話してください。
sumimasen, motto yukkuri hanashite kudasai
Sorry — could you speak more slowly?
もっと勉強しておけばよかった。
motto benkyō shite okeba yokatta
I wish I'd studied more.
もっとおいしいお店、知ってるよ。
motto oishii omise, shitteru yo
I know a place that's even more delicious.
Notice the baseline in each: a louder voice than now, more slowly than you are, studied more than I did, tastier than this one. This is why もっと lives next door to the comparatives page — it is the adverb that powers "…er" requests. When you want an even finer nudge, もう少し ("a little more") is もっと's gentler sibling — the difference between "gimme more" and "just a touch more."
もう少しだけ、砂糖を足してくれる？
mō sukoshi dake, satō o tashite kureru?
Could you add just a little more sugar?
Why English blurs what Japanese keeps apart
English leans on one flexible word — so — for all of this: "so hard" (intensity), "so important" (formal-ish intensity), "so much more" (comparison). Japanese refuses to let one word do all three jobs. It sorts them by (1) how strong, (2) how formal, and (3) whether a comparison is involved. That is why swapping these three in and out of とても's slot backfires: とても and かなり scale an absolute quality, 非常に does the same in a formal register, but もっと reaches for a baseline and compares against it. When you catch yourself about to write もっと for "very," stop and ask "more than what?" — if there's no answer, you wanted とても.
Common mistakes
Mistake 1 — 非常に in casual chat. Because textbooks gloss it as "very," learners drop 非常に into friendly conversation, where it sounds like reading from a manual.
❌ この店、非常においしい！
Too stiff for casual chat — 非常に is formal/written. To a friend, use すごく or とても.
✅ この店、すごくおいしい！
kono mise, sugoku oishii
This place is so good!
Mistake 2 — もっと for "even further" in formal prose. In reports and essays, "increased even further / moreover" is さらに (formal), not the conversational もっと.
❌ 円安により、輸出はもっと増加した。
Register clash — もっと is conversational; formal writing uses さらに for 'increased further.'
✅ 円安により、輸出はさらに増加した。
en'yasu ni yori, yushutsu wa sara ni zōka shita
Owing to the weak yen, exports increased even further.
Mistake 3 — もっと meaning absolute "very." English "so much more fun" leaks in, and learners use もっと with no comparison in mind.
❌ この映画はもっと面白い。
Incomplete — もっと needs a baseline ('more than what?'). For plain 'very,' use とても.
✅ この映画はとても面白い。
kono eiga wa totemo omoshiroi
This movie is very interesting.
Mistake 4 — 非常に glued straight onto a noun. 非常に is an adverb, so it needs an adjective/verb to modify.
❌ 非常に問題があります。
Ungrammatical for 'a serious problem' — 非常に can't attach to the bare noun 問題.
✅ 非常に大きな問題があります。
hijō ni ōkina mondai ga arimasu
There is an extremely big problem.
Key takeaways
- These three are not synonyms of とても. Each adds something: concession, register, or comparison.
- かなり = "quite / considerably," neutral register, with a nuance of more than you'd expect.
- 非常に = "extremely," formal/written; it modifies an adjective or verb, never a bare noun. Casual speech prefers とても/すごく.
- もっと = "more," always comparative — there is always a baseline. It cannot mean absolute "very"; formal "even further" is さらに.
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Start learning Japanese→Related Topics
- Degree: とても / すごくN5 — The two everyday intensifiers for 'very' — とても (neutral, safe everywhere) and すごく (casual, energetic, born from the adjective すごい) — how they differ by register rather than strength, and とても's hidden second life as a 'by no means' intensifier before a negative.
- Comparatives: より / のほうがN4 — How Japanese compares two things without ever inflecting the adjective — より marks the standard ('than'), のほうが marks the winner, and どちらが asks 'which is more?'
- Degree: あまり / ちょっとN5 — Two soft-degree adverbs that punch above their size — あまり 'not very,' which grammatically requires a following negative, and ちょっと 'a little,' whose real power is pragmatic: it softens requests and can politely decline an invitation without ever saying 'no.'