Learn Hardcore Chinese: zhè cì kǎoshì hěn nán, xièxie nǐ gěi wǒ nàme duō bāngzhù. - This exam is very hard; thank you for giving me so much help.

很 is often needed in simple “X is Adj” sentences to make them sound natural.
It doesn’t always strongly mean “very”; it can be weak or almost neutral. Context and intonation decide how strong it feels.

Why is it 这次考试 and not 这次的考试?

Both are grammatical, but there’s a nuance:

这次考试 – more concise, very common in speech and writing. Sounds neutral and natural.
这次的考试 – adds 的, which can sound a bit more emphatic or specific, like “this particular exam.”

In many fixed combinations of time word + event, Chinese often drops 的, for example:

上次考试 (last exam)
上周会议 (last week’s meeting)
明天比赛 (tomorrow’s match)

So in this sentence, 这次考试很难 is the most natural everyday choice.

How do we know 这次考试很难 means “This exam was very hard” and not “is very hard”, since there’s no past tense?

Chinese doesn’t mark tense the same way English does. It relies on context words and situation.

这次 (“this time”) points to a specific occurrence of an exam.
We normally talk about exams being hard after they happen, so the listener understands it as past.

You could add 了 to make the past aspect clearer:

这次考试很难了。 (less common here)
Or more naturally in many contexts: 这次考试真难啊。

But in practice, 这次考试很难 will almost always be understood as “This exam was very hard” if you’re talking after the exam.

In 谢谢你给我那么多帮助, what exactly is 给 doing? Is it like “to” or “for”?

Here 给 is a verb meaning “to give”:

你 – you (subject of the small clause)
给 – give
我 – to me
那么多帮助 – so much help

So literally: “Thank you [you gave me so much help].”

Structure-wise:

谢谢
- 你给我那么多帮助
  - 你给我那么多帮助 is a little clause: “you gave me so much help.”

There is no separate preposition like “for” in Chinese. Instead, you:

Directly say what the person did: 你给我那么多帮助
Put that after 谢谢 to mean “Thank you for doing X.”

Why is there no 了 in 给我那么多帮助? Can I say 给了我那么多帮助?

Both are possible:

谢谢你给我那么多帮助。
谢谢你给了我那么多帮助。

Difference:

给我那么多帮助 (no 了)
- Focuses on the general fact: “you give/gave me so much help.”
- In a thanking sentence, context already implies it’s something you did (past).
给了我那么多帮助 (with 了)
- Emphasizes the completed action: “you have given me so much help.”
- Slightly stronger feeling that this was a finished, concrete series of actions.

In everyday use, both are very common and natural. The version without 了 is already perfectly fine here.

What’s the difference between 帮助 and 帮忙? Why use 那么多帮助 and not 那么多帮忙?

帮助 (bāngzhù) can be both a verb (“to help”) and a noun (“help”):

Verb: 谢谢你一直帮助我。 – Thank you for always helping me.
Noun: 谢谢你给我那么多帮助。 – Thank you for giving me so much help.

帮忙 (bāngmáng) is usually a verb phrase meaning “to help (someone out)” and doesn’t naturally take 多 as a noun:

你可以帮忙吗？ – Can you help?
谢谢你的帮忙。 – Here, 帮忙 is more like a set phrase “your help,” but 那么多帮忙 sounds awkward.

So for “so much help” as a noun phrase, 那么多帮助 is the natural choice.

In 那么多帮助, does 那么多 mean “so much” or “so many”? And how is it different from 这么多?

多 here means “much/many,” and Chinese doesn’t separate countable vs. uncountable like English does.

那么多帮助 can be translated as:
- “so much help” (uncountable in English)
- Literally “that-much/many help”

Difference:

这么多 – “this much/many,” often something close to the speaker in time, space, or situation.
那么多 – “that much/many,” can feel:
- a bit more distant, or
- like describing the amount in a slightly dramatic / impressed way (“that much help!”).

In practice, in a gratitude sentence like this, both 这么多帮助 and 那么多帮助 are possible, but 那么多帮助 often sounds more natural and slightly more emotional or emphatic.

What is the word order inside 给我那么多帮助? Could I move 我 somewhere else?

The natural order is:

给 – verb “give”
我 – indirect object “to me”
那么多帮助 – direct object “so much help”

So:

给我那么多帮助 = “give me so much help”

You cannot say:

✗ 给那么多帮助我
✗ 那么多给我帮助

Those orders are not grammatical.

The usual pattern for “give someone something” is:

给 + [person] + [thing]
- 给我一本书 – give me a book
- 给他一点时间 – give him some time
- 给我那么多帮助 – give me so much help

Can I drop 你 and just say 谢谢给我那么多帮助?

No, that’s not natural.

You have a few good options:

谢谢你给我那么多帮助。 – Thank you for giving me so much help.
谢谢你。你给了我那么多帮助。 – Thank you. You have given me so much help.
谢谢大家给我的帮助。 – Thank you all for the help you’ve given me.

But:

✗ 谢谢给我那么多帮助。

is ungrammatical because 谢谢 needs either:

a person: 谢谢你, 谢谢大家, or
just stands alone: 谢谢！

When you add a following clause with 给我那么多帮助, you almost always keep the explicit 你/大家/你们 before it.

Is it okay to write this as two separate sentences: 这次考试很难。谢谢你给我那么多帮助。? What’s the difference from using a comma?

Yes, both are fine:

这次考试很难，谢谢你给我那么多帮助。
- One sentence with two clauses joined by a comma.
- Feels like a smooth, continuous thought: “The exam was hard, and thanks for helping me so much.”
这次考试很难。谢谢你给我那么多帮助。
- Two separate sentences.
- Slightly more emphatic separation: first you state the fact, then you express thanks.

In everyday writing, both styles are common. In formal writing, some people prefer the two-sentence version for clarity, but there’s no strict rule here.

Could I replace 很 with 非常, 太, or 真 in 这次考试很难? How would the meaning change?

Yes, but each has a different feel:

这次考试很难。
- Neutral to moderately strong: “(really) hard.”
这次考试非常难。
- Strong, formal-ish: “extremely hard,” “very difficult indeed.”
- 非常 is stronger than 很 and a bit more formal.
这次考试太难了。
- Very emotional / subjective: “This exam was too hard!”
- 太…了 often implies “excessively,” with a complaining or exclaiming tone.
这次考试真难。
- Colloquial, expressive: “This exam was really hard.”
- 真 adds a feeling of genuine emotion or surprise.

So which to choose depends on how strong or emotional you want the sentence to sound.