Stative verbs (adj.)

What is Stative Verb?

Stative verbs (also known as Chinese adjectives) are used to describe the mood, weather, appearance, or characteristics of a person or an object. For example:

累lèi累lèi tired	漂亮piàoliàng漂亮piàoliang pretty	熱rè热rè hot
開心kāixīn开心kāixīn happy	難過nánguò难过nánguò sad	興奮xīngfèn兴奋xīngfèn excited

The Difference Between Chinese and English

In English, we describe people or things using “be + adjective,” like “She is pretty.” But in Chinese, adjectives (also called stative verbs) function like verbs on their own—so there’s no need for a “be” verb.

For example:
“She is pretty” → 她漂亮 (tā piàoliang)

However, there’s an important detail:
In Chinese, stative verbs usually need an adverb of degree (like 很 hěn) to sound natural—unless you’re asking a question or making a comparison. So the more natural and commonly used way to say it is:

她tā她tā很hěn很hěn漂亮piàoliàng漂亮piàoliang 
She is pretty.

她tā她tā不bú不bú漂亮piàoliàng漂亮piàoliang
She is not pretty.

她tā她tā非常fēicháng非常fēicháng漂亮piàoliàng漂亮piàoliang 
She is very pretty.

她tā漂亮piàoliàng嗎ma？ 她tā漂亮piàoliang吗ma？
Is she pretty? (Question)

她tā比較bǐjiào漂亮piàoliàng她tā比较bǐjiào漂亮piàoliang
She is prettier. (comparison)

她tā漂亮piàoliàng， 我wǒ不bú漂亮piàoliàng她tā漂亮piàoliang， 我wǒ不bú漂亮piàoliang
She is pretty, I am not pretty. （comparison）

Note: In Chinese, if you use an adjective as the predicate without any adverb of degree (like 很 hěn), it can sound like you’re making a comparison, even if you’re not directly saying so.

她tā漂亮piàoliàng她tā漂亮piàoliang
She is pretty (but I am not.)

這個zhège蛋糕dàngāo好吃hǎochī这个zhèige蛋糕dàngāo好吃hǎochī
This cake tastes good. (but that cake is terrible)

But I want to say she “is” pretty, not “very” pretty

“很 hěn” is often translated as “very” in dictionaries, but in everyday Chinese, it’s not as strong as the English “very.” If you really want to emphasize something, you’d use “非常 fēicháng” instead. So if you just want to say someone is pretty without stressing how pretty, using “很 hěn” is the right choice.

我wǒ很hěn難過nánguò我wǒ很hěn难过nánguò
I am sad.

他tā很hěn高gāo他tā很hěn高gāo
He is tall.

Other adverbs I can use

Note: In Chinese, “有一點点 yǒu yìdiǎn” is usually used with negative adjectives to express a small degree of something unpleasant or undesirable. It’s not common to use it with positive adjectives. So saying something like “有一點点好 yǒu yìdiǎn hǎo” (a little bit good) sounds unnatural in most situations.

天氣tiānqì太tài熱rè了le天气tiānqì太tài热rè了le
The weather is too hot!

台灣táiwān的de茶chá非常fēicháng好喝hǎohē台湾táiwān的de茶chá非常fēicháng好喝hǎohē
Taiwan tea taste very good.

我wǒ今天jīntiān有一點yǒuyìdiǎn累lèi我wǒ今天jīntiān有一点yǒuyìdiǎn累lèi
I am a little tired today.

中文zhōngwén不bù難nán中文zhōngwén不bù难nán
Chinese is not hard.

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