tā hěn ài chī tián de dōngxi, bǐrú dàngāo hé qiǎokèlì.

very

Breakdown of tā hěn ài chī tián de dōngxi, bǐrú dàngāo hé qiǎokèlì.

• 吃chī: to eat
• 和hé: and
• 她tā: she

Questions & Answers about tā hěn ài chī tián de dōngxi, bǐrú dàngāo hé qiǎokèlì.

What exactly does 很 (hěn) mean here? Is it really “very”, or is it just required grammar?

In 她很爱吃甜的东西, 很 is doing two things:

1. Literal meaning: It can mean “very”, so:

   • 她很爱吃甜的东西 = She really loves eating sweet things.

2. Grammatical softener: In many sentences with adjectives or stative verbs (like 爱 to love), Chinese often adds 很 even when English wouldn’t say “very.”

   • Without 很:
     
     • 她爱吃甜的东西 can sound a bit strong / absolute, like “She LOVES (and that’s a big deal) eating sweet things.”
   • With 很:
     • 她很爱吃甜的东西 feels more natural and neutral in everyday speech.

So:

• You can translate it as “really” or sometimes just not translate it.
• Grammatically, you don’t have to use 很 here, but native speakers very often do, because it sounds smoother and more natural.

What’s the difference between 爱吃 and 喜欢吃?