Learn Hardcore Chinese: lǎobǎn xiàozhe zǒujìnlái, wǒmen dōu juéde hěn wēnnuǎn. - The boss walked in smiling, and we all felt very warm.

着 itself does not show tense.
It often suggests a background state accompanying another action, not just a plain progressive like is smiling; it focuses on the state continuing as something else happens.

Why is 着 after 笑? Could I say 笑走着进来 or put 着 somewhere else?

In this structure, 着 has to go right after the verb whose state is continuing.

笑着走进来 = “(he) walks in smiling.”
- Main action: 走进来 (walk in)
- Background/continuous state: 笑着 (smiling)

You cannot say 笑走着进来; that would be ungrammatical because 着 is not attached to its verb.

Other possible but less natural variations:

老板笑着走了进来 – adds 了, emphasizing the completion of the entering.
老板一边笑着，一边走进来 – more explicit: “on the one hand smiling, on the other hand walking in.”

But the basic pattern is:
[Verb A] + 着 + [Verb B] = do B while being in the state of A.

What is the difference between 走进来, 走进, and 进来?

These are combinations of:

走 – walk
进 – enter, go in
来 – come (toward the speaker)

Differences:

走进来: walk in (toward where I am)
- Verb 走
  - directional complement 进来
- Emphasizes both the manner (walk) and direction toward the speaker.
走进: walk in (direction “in” but without specifying toward speaker or away)
- Often needs an object: e.g. 走进教室 “walk into the classroom.”
进来: come in (toward me/us)
- No explicit manner; could be walk, run, etc.

So in the sentence, 走进来 highlights that the boss walked (not just moved) in toward where “we” are.

Why do we say 我们都觉得 instead of putting 都 somewhere else, like 都我们觉得 or 我们觉得都?

In Chinese, adverbs like 都 usually go right before the verb phrase they modify.

我们都觉得…
- 我们 = subject (“we”)
- 都 = “all / both”
- 觉得 = verb (“feel/think”)

So 都 is telling you about how many of “us” feel this way: we all feel…

The patterns you suggested are wrong or very unnatural:

✗ 都我们觉得… – wrong order; adverb can’t usually stand in front of the subject like that.
✗ 我们觉得都很温暖 – sounds off; 都 should not be that far from the subject it quantifies (“we all”).

Correct patterns include:

我们都觉得很温暖。 – We all feel very warm.
大家都觉得很温暖。 – Everyone feels very warm.

Is 很 in 很温暖 really “very”? Do we really mean “very warm”?

In many cases like this, 很 is not strongly “very”; it’s more like a neutral linker for adjectives.

In Chinese, adjective predicates usually need some degree adverb (like 很, 非常, 有点儿). Without it, they can sound:

too bare or
like a contrast or comparison.

So:

我们都觉得很温暖。
- Natural, neutral: “we feel warm” or “we feel very warm” depending on context.
我们都觉得温暖。
- Grammatically possible, but can sound a bit like a statement of fact or literary, not as natural in everyday speech.

So you can usually treat 很 here as required and fairly weak; it may mean “very,” but it doesn’t have to be that strong in intensity.

Does 温暖 here mean physically warm or emotionally warm?

温暖 can mean both:

Physical warmth – temperature
- e.g. 房间里很温暖。 – “It’s warm in the room.”
Emotional warmth – feeling cared for, comforted
- e.g. 这句话让我觉得很温暖。 – “This sentence makes me feel warm (inside).”

In your sentence, because it’s the boss smiling and coming in, we normally interpret 温暖 as emotionally warm – feeling comforted, cared for.

If you want to be explicit about emotional warmth, you can say:

我们心里都觉得很温暖。 – “We all felt warm in our hearts.”

Why use 觉得 here and not 认为, 感到, or 感觉?

All of these relate to “feeling/thinking,” but they differ in usage and tone:

觉得
- Very common, neutral, everyday.
- Covers both subjective feeling and opinion.
- Fits perfectly in casual narration like this.
认为
- More formal / logical opinion: “to believe, to hold the view that”.
- e.g. 我认为这个办法很好。 – “I believe this method is good.”
- Less about emotion, more about judgment.
感到
- Slightly more formal, often used in writing.
- Close to “to feel” (emotionally or physically).
- e.g. 我们都感到很温暖。
感觉
- As a noun: “feeling, sensation”.
- As a verb: similar to 觉得, but often a bit more sensory / emotional.
- e.g. 我感觉很温暖。

So 我们都觉得很温暖 is natural, conversational, and slightly emotional without sounding formal or stiff.

In English we might say “When the boss came in smiling, we felt warm.” How is that “when” idea expressed in the Chinese sentence?

Chinese often doesn’t need an explicit “when” word if the time relationship is clear.

老板笑着走进来，我们都觉得很温暖。

The first clause 老板笑着走进来 happens, and then the second clause 我们都觉得很温暖 describes what we (then) felt. The comma here already implies a sequence and a kind of “when/after this happened” relationship.

If you want to make the “when” very explicit, you can say:

当老板笑着走进来(的时候)，我们都觉得很温暖。
(When the boss walked in smiling, we all felt warm.)

But it’s not required; the original is natural and common.

Why isn’t there anything like “because” showing that the boss’s action caused the warm feeling?

In Chinese, causal relationships are often left implicit, especially when they’re obvious from context and order.

老板笑着走进来，我们都觉得很温暖。

Native speakers automatically understand:

The boss came in smiling → that made us feel warm.

If you want to state the cause explicitly, you can use:

因为老板笑着走进来，我们都觉得很温暖。
– “Because the boss came in smiling, we all felt warm.”

老板笑着走进来，所以我们都觉得很温暖。
– “The boss came in smiling, so we all felt warm.”

The original just relies on context and natural inference instead of explicit 因为 / 所以.

Why is there a comma instead of a period between the two parts of the sentence?

Chinese punctuation rules are more flexible with commas than English.

老板笑着走进来，我们都觉得很温暖。

Here we have two closely related clauses:

老板笑着走进来 – what the boss did.
我们都觉得很温暖 – how we felt as a result.

They form one complete idea, and it’s very common in Chinese to link them with a comma.

You could, in theory, use a full stop:

老板笑着走进来。我们都觉得很温暖。

This is grammatical but subtly changes the rhythm and makes the two actions feel slightly more separated. The comma keeps them tightly connected as one event sequence.

Does this sentence tell us that this happened in the past? There’s no past tense marker like “-ed”.

Chinese verbs don’t change form for tense (no “-ed” equivalent). Tense is usually shown by:

Time words: 昨天, 刚才, 以前, etc.
Aspect particles: 了, 过, 着, etc.
Context.

In this specific sentence, there’s no explicit time word, and no 了. So grammatically, it could describe:

A past event in a story.
A habitual situation (“whenever the boss comes in smiling, we all feel warm”).
Or even a vivid present in narrative.

In real use, the surrounding context (earlier sentences, time words before this line) will usually make it clear whether it’s past or present. The sentence by itself is time-neutral.

How do I pronounce 老板, 我们, and 很温暖 with correct tone changes?

These words involve third-tone sandhi (tone changes when tones combine):

老板
- Underlying tones: lǎo (3)
  - bǎn (3)
- Two 3rd tones in a row → first one becomes 2nd tone
- Actual pronunciation: láobǎn (2-3)
我们
- wǒ (3)
  - men (neutral)
- 3rd tone before a neutral tone is usually a full 3rd tone, but in fast speech it can sound a bit lighter: wǒmen.
很温暖
- hěn (3)
  - wēn (1)
    - nuǎn (3)
- 3rd + 1st: hěn stays a low dipping 3rd tone.
- Then 温 (1)
  - 暖 (3): no sandhi needed because 1st + 3rd is fine.
- So: hěn wēnnuǎn.

Full phrase smoothly:

老板笑着走进来，我们都觉得很温暖。
Pronounced: láobǎn xiàozhe zǒujìnlái, wǒmen dōu juéde hěn wēnnuǎn.