Learn Hardcore Chinese: tā juéde jīdàn hěn jiǎndān, dànshì zuò de hǎochī bù róngyì. - She thinks eggs are very simple, but it’s not easy to make them delicious.

她tā　觉得juéde　鸡蛋jīdàn　很hěn　简单jiǎndān，　但是dànshì　做zuò　得de　好吃hǎochī　不bù　容易róngyì。tā juéde jīdàn hěn jiǎndān, dànshì zuò de hǎochī bù róngyì.

She thinks eggs are very simple, but it’s not easy to make them delicious.

Breakdown of tā juéde jīdàn hěn jiǎndān, dànshì zuò de hǎochī bù róngyì.

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Questions & Answers about tā juéde jīdàn hěn jiǎndān, dànshì zuò de hǎochī bù róngyì.

Why is 很 (hěn) used here? Does it always mean “very”?

In this sentence, 很 is mainly a grammatical linker before an adjective, not a strong “very.”

In Chinese, a basic pattern for describing something is:

Subject + 很 + Adjective
- 她觉得鸡蛋很简单。
  She thinks eggs are simple.

If you say just:

鸡蛋简单。

it can sound a bit abrupt or even contrastive, like “Eggs ARE simple (as opposed to what you said).”

So:

鸡蛋很简单 ≈ “eggs are (pretty) simple” / “eggs are simple”
The “very” meaning of 很 is usually weak here, unless you especially stress it in speech.

So in many sentences like this, 很 is needed to make the adjective sound natural, and is not strongly emphatic.

Why isn’t there a 是 (shì) before 简单 (jiǎndān), like “鸡蛋是很简单”?

Adjectives in Chinese can function like verbs (“to be + adj.”) and don’t need 是 in most predicate descriptions:

鸡蛋很简单。
Literally: “Eggs very simple.”
Natural meaning: “Eggs are (very) simple.”

You usually use:

Subject + 很 + Adjective (no 是)

You do use 是 when:

You’re emphasizing or contrasting:
鸡蛋是很简单，但是……
“Eggs really are simple, but…”
Or when the predicate is a noun phrase, not an adjective:
她是老师。 “She is a teacher.”

So in this sentence, 是 is not needed; 很简单 is the normal way to say “is simple.”

What does the 得 (de) between 做 (zuò) and 好吃 (hǎochī) do?

This 得 is the “complement marker” de, used in the pattern:

Verb + 得 + Complement

Here the complement is an adjective (好吃), describing how the action is done:

做得好吃
“do (it) such that it’s tasty” / “make it in a tasty way”

So the structure is:

做（to cook/make）+ 得 + 好吃（tasty）
→ “to make [it] tasty”

Other examples:

说得很好。 “(He) speaks very well.”
写得很快。 “(She) writes very fast.”

So 得 links the verb 做 with the result/degree description 好吃.

Why is it 做得好吃不容易 and not something like 做得不容易好吃?

Chinese word order in this pattern is:

Verb
得
How / to what degree (often an adjective or phrase)

So:

做得好吃 = “to make (it) tasty”

Then 不容易 is a separate predicate about the whole action:

做得好吃 不容易
“(It is) not easy to make it tasty.”

If you said:

做得不容易好吃

it would sound wrong/confusing, because you’d be trying to use 不容易 directly as the complement of 做, and then attach 好吃 after it. The complement should directly describe the verb; here, 好吃 describes the result of 做, and 不容易 evaluates the difficulty of performing that action, so it comes after the whole verb phrase.

What exactly does 好吃 (hǎochī) mean? Is it literally “good eat”?

Yes, literally:

好 = good
吃 = to eat

So 好吃 literally is “good to eat,” i.e. tasty / delicious.

It’s a single adjective meaning “delicious,” used mainly for food:

这个菜很好吃。
“This dish is very tasty.”

Compare:

好喝 (hǎohē) = “good to drink” (for drinks)
好看 (hǎokàn) = “good to look at” (pretty, good-looking)

So 做得好吃 = “to make (it) delicious,” not just “to do it well.”

Why is 不容易 (bù róngyì) used instead of 很难 (hěn nán)? Do they mean the same thing?

Both can mean “not easy / difficult,” but the nuance is slightly different:

不容易
Literally “not easy.” Often implies takes effort, skill, or care, without sounding super harsh.
很难
“Very difficult.” Often feels a bit stronger or more direct.

In this sentence:

做得好吃不容易
“(It’s) not easy to make it tasty.”

This sounds like:

“It takes some skill/effort to make eggs taste good.”

If you said:

做得好吃很难

it would sound stronger, like:

“It’s really hard to make them tasty” (more emphasis on difficulty).

Both are grammatically fine; 不容易 has a gentler, more natural feel here.

Why is 但是 (dànshì) used? Could we also use 可是 (kěshì) or 不过 (búguò)?

但是, 可是, and 不过 can all introduce contrast (“but / however”), but their tones differ slightly:

但是
Neutral, slightly more formal. Very common in writing and speaking.
可是
Often sounds a bit more colloquial / emotional.
不过
Often means “however / though,” sometimes softer or like “only / except that…”

In this sentence:

她觉得鸡蛋很简单，但是做得好吃不容易。

You could say:

…，可是做得好吃不容易。 (a bit more spoken)
…，不过做得好吃不容易。 (feels like “but it’s not so easy to make them tasty though”)

All three are grammatical; 但是 is a straightforward, standard choice.

What’s the difference between saying 鸡蛋很简单 and 做鸡蛋很简单?

鸡蛋很简单
Literally: “Eggs are simple.”
In context, it usually means “Eggs (as an ingredient / as a thing to cook) are simple.” Native speakers will often understand it as “egg dishes are simple (in general).”
做鸡蛋很简单
“Making eggs is simple.”
This explicitly says that the act of cooking eggs is simple.

In everyday speech, people often say things like:

鸡蛋很简单，但是做得好吃不容易。

and listeners naturally interpret it as:

“Eggs (dishes) are easy/simple, but making them taste good isn’t easy.”

If you really want to be explicit, you can say:

她觉得做鸡蛋很简单，但是做得好吃不容易。
“She thinks cooking eggs is simple, but it’s not easy to make them tasty.”

Can 她 (tā) or 觉得 (juéde) be omitted in this sentence?

Yes, in the right context, Chinese often omits things that are clear from context:

Omitting 她
If everyone already knows you are talking about “her,” you might say:
- 觉得鸡蛋很简单，但是做得好吃不容易。
  “(She) thinks eggs are simple, but (it’s) not easy to make them tasty.”
Omitting 觉得
If it’s clearly your opinion, you might just state the fact:
- 鸡蛋很简单，但是做得好吃不容易。
  “Eggs are simple, but it’s not easy to make them tasty.”

The full sentence with 她觉得 is clearer when you want to explicitly attribute the opinion to her, which is good in textbooks or more formal writing.

Why is there a comma (，) between the two parts instead of using something like 可是 alone or splitting into two sentences?

The comma here separates two clauses that form one larger sentence:

她觉得鸡蛋很简单，
“She thinks eggs are simple,”
但是做得好吃不容易。
“but it’s not easy to make them tasty.”

Chinese punctuation rules allow a comma before 但是 like this, similar to English:
“She thinks X, but Y.”

You could also write:

她觉得鸡蛋很简单。但是做得好吃不容易。

Two sentences, each starting with its own subject or connector. Both are fine; the combined sentence with a comma is very natural in modern written Chinese.

Is 简单 (jiǎndān) here more like “simple” or “easy”? How is it different from 容易 (róngyì)?

简单 and 容易 overlap but are not identical:

简单
“Simple” in structure/content; not complicated.
Can imply “easy” because it’s not complex.
- 这道菜很简单。
  “This dish is simple (not many steps/ingredients).”
容易
“Easy” in terms of difficulty level.
Opposite of 难 or 不容易.
- 这道菜很容易。
  “This dish is easy (to make/do).”

In the sentence:

她觉得鸡蛋很简单，但是做得好吃不容易。

The nuance is:

Eggs as a thing / ingredient are simple (not complicated),
but making them turn out tasty is not easy (takes skill/effort).

Is 做得好吃不容易 missing a subject? Should there be an “it” or something?

In English we say “It is not easy to make (them) tasty,” but Chinese often drops pronouns like “it” when the reference is obvious.

Here, the implicit subject of “不容易” is:

“the action of making (eggs) tasty”

You could make it more explicit:

要把鸡蛋做得好吃不容易。
“To make eggs tasty is not easy.”
把鸡蛋做得好吃很难。

But in natural speech and writing, 做得好吃不容易 is plenty clear in context: everyone knows we’re still talking about 鸡蛋 from the first clause.