Learn Hardcore Chinese: zhè gè chúfáng yòu xiǎo yòu zāng, dǎsǎo qǐlái hěn máfan. - This kitchen is both small and dirty, and cleaning it is very troublesome.

Most often used with adjectives:
- 又贵又差 = both expensive and poor (quality)
- 又高又帅 = both tall and handsome
Can also be used with verbs, though this is less common and more restricted:
- 又吃又喝 = eating and drinking (doing both)

Often the two parts have a similar emotional value (both positive or both negative). Here, 小 and 脏 are both negative qualities, so 又…又… fits very well and sounds a bit complaining.

Could I say 这个厨房很小很脏 instead of 又小又脏? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can say 这个厨房很小很脏, and it is grammatical and natural.

Differences in nuance:

又小又脏
- Feels a bit more emphatic and evaluative, often used when you’re complaining or strongly judging something.
- Rhythmically more punchy: 又 A 又 B is a fixed, expressive pattern.
很小很脏
- Sounds a bit more neutral or descriptive: “it’s very small and very dirty.”
- 很 here can mean “quite/very,” but often it’s just a “linker” that makes the adjectives sound natural as predicates.

So:

这个厨房又小又脏 – “This kitchen is (both) small and dirty.” (complaining tone)
这个厨房很小很脏 – “This kitchen is very small and very dirty.” (can be complaining, but slightly less punchy)

You normally don’t mix them like 很小又脏; keep the pattern consistent: 又…又… or 很…很….

Why is there a 个 after 这? Could I use 间 instead?

In 这个厨房, 个 is a measure word (classifier). In Mandarin, when you use a demonstrative like 这 (this) or 那 (that) with a noun, you almost always need a measure word in between.

这 + 个 + 厨房
- 个 is the default, very general measure word.
这 + 间 + 厨房
- 间 is a specific measure word for rooms (like rooms in a building).

Both are possible:

这个厨房 – very common, neutral, colloquial.
这间厨房 – also common; more specific (emphasizing it as a room), sometimes a bit more “proper” or careful.

For everyday speech, 这个厨房 is completely fine and very natural.

Can I drop the measure word and say 这厨房 like in English “this kitchen”?

In standard Mandarin, you normally cannot drop the measure word in this structure. The usual pattern is:

这 + measure word + noun
- 这个厨房, 那本书, 这辆车

A bare 这厨房 sounds ungrammatical or at least very non‑standard in most contexts.

You will sometimes hear measure words dropped in:

Certain set phrases or
Certain dialects/accents

But as a learner of standard Mandarin, you should always include the measure word: 这个厨房 (or 这间厨房).

What is 起来 doing in 打扫起来很麻烦? Does it literally mean “stand up and clean”?

In this sentence, 起来 is not literal “stand up.” It is a complement with an abstract meaning.

Here V + 起来 (verb + 起来) expresses something like:

“once you start doing it / when you actually do it, doing it is …”
“when it comes to doing X”

So:

打扫起来很麻烦 ≈ “(When you actually) clean it, it’s very troublesome.”
or “Cleaning it is very troublesome.”

Other common uses of V + 起来 with this abstract meaning:

说起来很简单 – Speaking of it / When you say it, it’s very simple.
做起来不容易 – Doing it (in practice) is not easy.
想起来就头疼 – Just thinking of it gives me a headache.

So here, 起来 packages the action 打扫 into something like “the act of cleaning (once you get into it)” and allows you to comment on it with 很麻烦.

What’s the difference between 打扫起来很麻烦 and just 打扫很麻烦?

Both are understandable, but they feel different:

打扫起来很麻烦
- Very natural.
- Emphasizes “once you actually start cleaning / when it comes to cleaning it”.
- Focuses on the process/experience of cleaning.
打扫很麻烦
- Grammatically possible but feels a bit incomplete or awkward without an object or extra context.
- Sounds more like “Cleaning is troublesome” in general, as an abstract statement.

With this kitchen as the topic, Chinese prefers:

这个厨房又小又脏，打扫起来很麻烦。
- “This kitchen is small and dirty; cleaning it is a real hassle.”

The 起来 makes it flow naturally and clearly refers back to the previous context (“cleaning this kitchen”).

Does 很 in 很麻烦 really mean “very,” or is it just a grammatical filler?

In predicate adjective sentences, 很 often behaves like a weak degree marker or even just a linker between the subject and the adjective.

In sentences like 他很高, 她很漂亮, 这个地方很安静,
很 often does not mean a strong “very”; it’s closer to “quite / rather / is (adjectival)”.

Why? Because a bare adjective like:

他高
usually sounds contrastive or emphatic, like “he is tall (as opposed to not tall)”.

Adding 很:

他很高 – sounds like a simple statement, “He’s tall.”

In 打扫起来很麻烦:

很麻烦 can be understood as:
- Weak: “is pretty troublesome / is quite a bother.”
- Strong (if stressed): “is very troublesome.”

So 很 both softens the sentence into a normal description and adds some degree of trouble, but context and intonation decide how strong it feels.

What exactly does 麻烦 mean here? Is it an adjective, a noun, or a verb?

麻烦 is very flexible in Chinese. It can be:

Adjective – “troublesome, annoying, inconvenient”
- 这件事很麻烦。 – This matter is troublesome.
- In your sentence, 很麻烦: 麻烦 is an adjective.
Noun – “trouble, bother, problem”
- 不要给别人添麻烦。 – Don’t cause trouble for others.
- 这次真是个大麻烦。 – This time it’s really big trouble.
Verb – “to bother (someone), to trouble (someone)”
- 麻烦你帮我看看。 – Could I trouble you to take a look?
- 真不好意思，总是麻烦你。 – Sorry to always be bothering you.

In 打扫起来很麻烦, it’s clearly adjectival: “(it) is troublesome” or “it’s a hassle.”

There is no “is” in the Chinese sentence. How does Chinese express “Cleaning it is troublesome”?

Mandarin often does not use a separate verb like “to be” between a subject and an adjective.

The structure is basically:

[Action / Thing] + 很 + Adjective

So:

打扫起来很麻烦。
Literally: “(As for) cleaning-(it)-up, very troublesome.”
Meaning: “Cleaning it is troublesome.”

Here:

打扫起来 – functions like the subject/topic: “cleaning (it)”
很麻烦 – predicate: “is troublesome”

There is no explicit “is”. The link is implied; 很 helps form a natural adjectival predicate.

Why use 又 here and not 也? Is there a 也…也… pattern?

又 and 也 are different.

又 in 又…又… is a fixed pattern meaning:
- “both … and …”, “not only … but also …”
- 又小又脏, 又累又困, 又贵又难吃
也 usually means “also / too”, as in:
- 我也去。 – I’m going too.
- 他很累，我也很累。 – He’s tired, I’m also tired.

There is a pattern 既…又… / 既…也…, but 也…也… by itself is not the normal “both … and …” pattern.

So for:

“This kitchen is both small and dirty,”
the natural patterns are:
- 这个厨房又小又脏。
- 这个厨房既小又脏。 (more formal/literary)

Can I use 既…又… instead of 又…又… here?

Yes, you can say:

这个厨房既小又脏，打扫起来很麻烦。

This is grammatical and natural.

Nuance differences:

又小又脏
- Very common in spoken language.
- Slightly more colloquial and expressive, especially for complaining.
既小又脏
- Slightly more formal or bookish.
- Often appears in writing or more careful speech.

In everyday conversation, 又小又脏 is more typical here.

Why doesn’t the second part repeat “this kitchen”? Why not 打扫这个厨房起来很麻烦?

In Chinese, once the topic (here, 这个厨房) is established, it often doesn’t need to be repeated.

First clause: 这个厨房又小又脏
→ sets the topic: “this kitchen”
Second clause: 打扫起来很麻烦
→ naturally understood as “Cleaning it is troublesome” (i.e., cleaning this kitchen).

Also, 打扫 + 起来 is a verb + complement unit. You normally don’t put the object between the verb and 起来 in this abstract use. More natural patterns are:

把这个厨房打扫干净。 – Clean this kitchen up.
打扫这个厨房很麻烦。 – Cleaning this kitchen is troublesome.
这个厨房又小又脏，打扫起来很麻烦。 – This kitchen is small and dirty; cleaning it is troublesome.

But 打扫这个厨房起来 is unnatural; the 起来 should stay directly after the verb it modifies in this kind of construction.

How would I say this in the past or future, like “was small and dirty” or “will be troublesome to clean”?

Mandarin does not have tense endings like English -ed / will. Instead, you normally:

Add a time word:
- 以前这个厨房又小又脏，打扫起来很麻烦。
  – Before, this kitchen was small and dirty; cleaning it was troublesome.
- 将来这个厨房会变得又小又脏吗？打扫起来会很麻烦吧。
  – In the future, will this kitchen become small and dirty? Cleaning it will be troublesome, right?
Use 会 for a likely/future situation:
- 这个厨房又小又脏，打扫起来会很麻烦。
  – This kitchen is small and dirty; cleaning it will be troublesome.

So to shift time, you mainly change time expressions (以前, 现在, 将来, 明天, etc.) and/or add modal verbs like 会, rather than changing the form of 小, 脏, 麻烦, or 打扫.