Learn Hardcore Chinese: tā juéde zhè tiáo qúnzi hěn piàoliang.

觉得 (juéde) is a very common verb meaning something like “to feel / to think / to find (that…)” in the sense of giving an opinion or impression.

In 她觉得这条裙子很漂亮, it means:

“She thinks this dress is very pretty.”
or “She feels that this dress is very pretty.”

Typical pattern:

Subject + 觉得 + clause
- 我觉得他很好。 – I think he is very good / nice.
- 你觉得中文难吗？ – Do you think Chinese is difficult?

So you use 觉得 when you are expressing a personal opinion or impression, not when you’re “thinking” in the sense of “pondering” (for that, you might use 想 (xiǎng): I’m thinking about it = 我在想。).

Why is there a measure word 条 (tiáo) before 裙子 (qúnzi)? What does it do?

In Chinese, almost every countable noun needs a measure word (classifier) between a number/demonstrative and the noun.

Structure:

这 + 条 + 裙子
literally: this + [strip-like thing] + skirt = “this skirt / this dress”

Here:

这 (zhè) = this
条 (tiáo) = measure word used for long, narrow, flexible things (like rivers, pants, fish, etc.) and skirts/dresses by convention
裙子 (qúnzi) = skirt / dress

So you cannot say:

✗ 这裙子 (unnatural in standard Mandarin) You should say:
✓ 这条裙子 – this skirt / this dress

Why do we use the measure word 条 (tiáo) for 裙子 (qúnzi) instead of 件 (jiàn), which I learned for clothes?

Both 条 and 件 are measure words often used with clothing, but they’re used with different types of clothing:

条 (tiáo) is used for long, tubular, or lower-body clothing:
- 一条裤子 – a pair of pants
- 一条裙子 – a skirt / dress
- 一条连衣裙 – a dress (one-piece)
件 (jiàn) is used mainly for upper-body or whole garments like:
- 一件衣服 – a piece of clothing
- 一件衬衫 – a shirt
- 一件外套 – a coat / jacket

For 裙子, 一条裙子 is standard and natural.
一件裙子 can sometimes be heard, but 一条裙子 is the default and safest choice.

Does 很 (hěn) here really mean “very”, or is it just a grammatical word? Why is it there?

In 她觉得这条裙子很漂亮, 很 (hěn) is often not strongly emphasized as “very.”
Functionally, it does two things:

Softens the adjective and makes the sentence feel natural.
Acts as a kind of link between the noun and the adjective when the adjective is used as a predicate.

Basic pattern:

Noun + 很 + Adjective
- 她很漂亮。 – She is (very) pretty.
- 这条裙子很漂亮。 – This skirt is (very) pretty.

In everyday speech, if you just say:

这条裙子漂亮。

it can sound:

a bit abrupt, or
like a contrast (e.g., “This skirt is pretty (but that one isn’t)”).

So 很 here often feels more like a neutral “is” + mild degree rather than a strong “very.”
Context and tone of voice decide whether it’s “is pretty” or “is very pretty.”

Can we drop 很 (hěn) and just say 她觉得这条裙子漂亮? Is that wrong?

You can say 她觉得这条裙子漂亮, and it is grammatically possible, but:

It can sound more emphatic or contrastive, as if you’re contrasting it with something not pretty:
- “…她觉得这条裙子漂亮，可是太贵了。”
  “…she thinks this dress is pretty, but it’s too expensive.”
It may sound less natural in isolation, especially in spoken Chinese.

Most of the time, native speakers naturally insert 很:

她觉得这条裙子很漂亮。 – natural and neutral
她觉得这条裙子漂亮。 – grammatically OK, but feels a bit marked / contrastive unless the context supports that.

Why is there no 是 (shì “to be”) between 裙子 and 很漂亮? In English we say “is pretty.”

In Chinese, when an adjective functions as a predicate, you usually don’t use 是 directly between the noun and adjective. Instead, you often use 很 or another adverb.

Pattern:

Noun + 很 + Adjective
- 他很高。 – He (is) tall.
- 中文很难。 – Chinese (is) difficult.
- 这条裙子很漂亮。 – This dress (is) pretty.

Using 是 directly with a simple adjective predicate usually sounds unnatural:

✗ 这条裙子是很漂亮。 (not used as a basic statement)

是 is used when:

You link two nouns / noun phrases:
- 她是老师。 – She is a teacher.
Or when 很 + adjective is used as a noun phrase:
- 她的是很漂亮的。 (a special structure, more advanced, not just “is pretty”)

What is the overall structure of the sentence 她觉得这条裙子很漂亮 in terms of word order?

The structure is:

Subject + Verb (觉得) + Object + Predicate (很 + Adjective)

Breakdown:

她 – subject: “she”
觉得 – verb: “thinks / feels / finds”
这条裙子 – object of 觉得: “this dress”
很漂亮 – predicate describing the object: “(is) very pretty”

In English thinking:

“She thinks” → 她觉得
“this dress is very pretty” → 这条裙子很漂亮

Chinese puts it together directly:

她觉得 + 这条裙子很漂亮。
Literally: “She thinks this dress very pretty.”

What’s the difference between 裙 (qún) and 裙子 (qúnzi)? Why use 子 (zi) here?

裙 (qún) by itself is the core meaning “skirt”.
裙子 (qúnzi) is the normal, everyday word for “skirt / dress.”

The 子 (zi) here is:

a common noun suffix,
often added to make a word sound more natural / colloquial,
not strongly meaningful by itself.

Other examples:

桌 → 桌子 (zhuōzi) – table
杯 → 杯子 (bēizi) – cup
帽 → 帽子 (màozi) – hat

In most everyday speech, you’ll just use 裙子, not bare 裙.

How are all the tones pronounced in this sentence, and is 子 (zi) neutral here?

Word by word with tones:

她 (tā) – 1st tone (high level)
觉得 (juéde) – jué 2nd tone (rising), de neutral tone
这 (zhè) – 4th tone (falling)
条 (tiáo) – 2nd tone (rising)
裙子 (qúnzi) – qún 2nd tone (rising), zi neutral tone
很 (hěn) – 3rd tone (low / dipping)
漂亮 (piàoliang) – piào 4th tone (falling), liang neutral tone

So 子 (zi) in 裙子 is indeed neutral tone, pronounced lightly and quickly, without its own full tone contour.

What’s the difference between 她 (tā), 他 (tā), and 它 (tā) if they sound the same?

All three are pronounced tā (1st tone), but:

她 – “she / her”
- Used for female humans.
他 – “he / him”
- Used for male humans, and in speech often as generic “he/she” (since they sound the same).
它 – “it”
- Used for animals, objects, abstract things.

In 她觉得…, the female third-person pronoun is used, so the sentence explicitly refers to “she / her.”
In spoken Chinese, they all sound identical; the difference only appears in writing.

How would I make this sentence negative, like “She doesn’t think this dress is very pretty”?

You can negate it in a few natural ways:

她觉得这条裙子不漂亮。
- She thinks this dress is not pretty.
她觉得这条裙子不太漂亮。
- She thinks this dress is not very pretty / not that pretty.
  (不太 + adjective softens the negativity, sounds more polite.)
她不觉得这条裙子很漂亮。
- Literally: She doesn’t think this dress is very pretty.
- Slightly different nuance: it focuses on denying the opinion itself, not just describing the dress.

For a natural, mildly negative opinion, 她觉得这条裙子不太漂亮 is very common.

Can 觉得 (juéde) also be used with people or situations, not just things like 裙子?

Yes. 觉得 is very general and can be used with almost anything you can have an opinion or feeling about:

我觉得他很好。 – I think he’s very nice.
你觉得中国菜怎么样？ – What do you think of Chinese food?
我觉得今天有点儿冷。 – I feel it’s a bit cold today.
他们觉得这个办法不错。 – They think this method is pretty good.

So 她觉得这条裙子很漂亮 fits the same pattern: she has an opinion/feeling about the skirt.