Learn Hardcore Chinese: Zhège fángjiān hěn gānjìng yě hěn ānjìng, zài fángjiān lǐ fùxí Hànzì hěn héshì. - This room is very clean and also very quiet; it’s very suitable for reviewing characters in the room.

In modern Mandarin, when an adjective is used as the main predicate (saying something is clean, big, expensive, etc.), you normally do not use 是 directly before the adjective.

Basic pattern is:

Subject + (degree word) + Adjective
- 房间很干净。 – The room is (very) clean.
- 他不胖。 – He is not fat.

Using 是 + adjective is possible but has special uses, often for contrast, emphasis, or in longer structures:

这个房间是干净，可是太小了。
This room is clean, but it’s too small. (contrast)
这个房间是很干净的。
This room is indeed very clean. (emphatic, with 的)

In your sentence, 这个房间很干净 is the normal, neutral way to say “this room is clean”.

Does 很 here really mean “very”, or is it just a grammatical word?

Both, depending on context.

In many everyday sentences, 很 before an adjective is partly a “default link” and only weakly means “very”:

这个房间很干净。
Often understood as “The room is clean” / “quite clean”, not strongly “VERY clean!”

If you drop the degree word and say:

这个房间干净。

it can sound a bit unusual or like you’re contrasting it with something else:

“(Unlike what you thought) the room is clean.”

So:

很 here:
- prevents the sentence from sounding contrastive or abrupt
- usually expresses mild degree (like “quite / pretty / fairly”)
- only in some contexts is it a strong “very”

For stronger emphasis, Chinese often uses 非常, 特别, 很干净极了, etc.:

这个房间非常干净。 – This room is extremely clean.

What exactly is 也 doing in 很干净也很安静, and can I use 和 or 还 instead?

也 is an adverb meaning “also / too”. Here it links two separate predicates of the same subject:

这个房间很干净，也很安静。
This room is very clean and also very quiet.

Key points:

也 goes before the second predicate (verb or adjective phrase) that it modifies.
It’s used when the subject is the same for both parts.

Why not 和?

和 links nouns / noun phrases:
- 桌子和椅子 – table and chair
  Using 很干净和很安静 is unnatural because you’re linking whole predicative phrases, not just words.

还 also means “also / in addition”, but it often implies “on top of that / furthermore”, sometimes with a bit of surprise:

这个房间很干净，还很安静。
The room is very clean and (on top of that) very quiet.

So:

也 – simple “also”, very common and neutral here.
还 – “also/what’s more”, adds a slight “in addition” feeling.
和 – not used to connect these predicate phrases.

Why isn’t there a subject in the second part 在房间里复习汉字很合适? Shouldn’t it repeat 这个房间 or 我?

Chinese often drops subjects when they are clear from context. After the first clause:

这个房间很干净也很安静，…
We already know we’re talking about this room as the setting.

The second clause:

在房间里复习汉字很合适。
Literally: “Reviewing characters in (the) room is very suitable.”

Here, the logical subject is the activity “reviewing characters in the room”. Chinese treats the whole phrase 在房间里复习汉字 as a kind of “topic/subject” for 很合适.

You could optionally make it more explicit:

在这个房间里复习汉字很合适。
在这间房间里复习汉字很合适。

Adding 我 (我在房间里复习汉字很合适) is grammatically okay, but the meaning shifts to “For me, it’s very suitable to review characters in the room,” which is more personal. The original is more general: “This room is (in general) a very suitable place to review characters.”

Why do we say 在房间里 with both 在 and 里? Can I just use one of them?

在 and 里 have different roles:

在 – location preposition: “at / in / on”
里 – location noun: “inside”

Combined:

在 + (place) + 里 ≈ “inside (place)”
- 在房间里 – in the room (inside the room)

Alternatives:

在房间里复习汉字 – most explicit, very natural.
在房间复习汉字 – also common; 房间 already implies an enclosed space.
房间里复习汉字 – drop 在; this feels more like “(As for) in the room, reviewing characters is…”, often a bit more topic-like.

For learners, 在房间里 is a very safe and natural structure. You cannot just say 在里 (you must name the place), but choosing 在房间 vs 房间里 vs 在房间里 is mostly a nuance of style and emphasis, not right vs wrong.

Why is the word order 在房间里复习汉字, not 复习汉字在房间里? Is the latter wrong?

Chinese default word order for a location of an action is:

(Time) + (Place) + Subject + Verb + Object

So place phrases like 在房间里 usually go before the verb:

我在房间里复习汉字。 – I review characters in the room.
在房间里复习汉字很合适。 – Reviewing characters in the room is very suitable.

复习汉字在房间里 is possible in some contexts, but:

It sounds more marked or emphatic, like you’re contrasting where the reviewing is done:
- 复习汉字在房间里，不是在图书馆。
  Reviewing characters is done in the room, not in the library.

In your sentence, you’re just describing a suitable place, so 在房间里复习汉字 is the natural, unmarked order.

What is the difference between 合适 and 适合, and why is 很合适 used here?

Both relate to “suitable / appropriate”, but they’re used differently in sentences.

合适 – an adjective (“suitable”)
- 这件衣服很合适。 – These clothes are very suitable.
- 在房间里复习汉字很合适。 – It is very suitable to review characters in the room.
Pattern: X 很合适 / 不合适.
适合 – a verb (“to suit / to fit / to be suitable for”)
- 这件衣服很适合你。 – These clothes really suit you.
- 这个房间很适合复习汉字。 – This room really suits (is suitable for) reviewing characters.
Patterns:
- A 适合 B – A suits B.
- A 很适合 B – A really suits B.

Why 很合适 here?

The sentence treats 在房间里复习汉字 as the subject/topic and comments on it with an adjective:
- “[Doing X] is very suitable.” → use 合适.
If we wanted to put 这个房间 as the grammatical subject and say “This room suits reviewing characters”, we’d more naturally use 适合:
- 这个房间很适合复习汉字。

Both ways are fine; they just frame the idea differently.

Does 复习 mean “review” or just “study”?

复习 (fùxí) mainly means “to review; to revise; to go over (what you’ve already learned)”.

复 – “again” / “repeat”
习 – “to practice / to study”

Examples:

复习生词 – review new words
考试前要好好复习。 – You should review well before the exam.

It’s not the general “study from scratch” verb. For general “study / learn” you’d more often see:

学 / 学习 – to study, to learn
- 学习汉语 – study Chinese

So 复习汉字 is specifically “review Chinese characters (that you have studied before).”

Why is it 这个房间 and not 这间房间? What is the difference between 个 and 间 here?

Both 个 and 间 can be measure words (classifiers), but:

个 – very general, used with many nouns.
间 – specific classifier for rooms and some enclosed spaces.

So both:

这个房间 – this room
这间房间 – this room

are grammatically correct.

Differences:

这间房间 sounds a bit more specific / precise / natural for rooms, especially in more careful or written language.
这个房间 is also very common in speech; many speakers default to 个 even when a more specific classifier exists.

In your sentence, 这个房间 is completely fine and natural. If you say 这间房间很干净也很安静, it’s slightly more “textbook perfect” on the classifier side, but the meaning is the same.

Do we really need to repeat 很 before 安静, or could we say 很干净也安静?

Native speakers say both, but the pattern in your sentence:

很干净也很安静

is very common and sounds nicely balanced and clear.

Subtly:

很干净也安静
– possible, but 安静 without a degree word can feel a bit more bare or slightly emphatic, depending on tone.

Because 很 is so light in meaning here, repeating it is natural:

又大又干净 – “both big and clean” (fixed structure with 又…又…)
很干净也很安静 – “very clean and also very quiet”

For learners, using 很干净也很安静 is safer and more idiomatic.

Why is it 汉字 and not something like 汉的字? What does 汉字 literally mean?

汉字 (Hànzì) is a compound noun, not an adjective + noun phrase under grammar rules like English.

汉 – from 汉族 / 汉语, related to the Han people / Chinese.
字 – “character / written symbol”.

Together 汉字 literally means “Chinese characters” – the characters used to write Chinese.

In Chinese, many meanings that in English use “X of Y” or “Y’s X” are expressed with simple noun–noun compounds, without 的:

中文书 – Chinese book (book in Chinese)
英语老师 – English teacher
汉字 – Chinese characters

You might see 汉语的字 in very specific explanatory contexts, but for the standard term it’s just 汉字.