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很多 (hěn duō) — many, much, a lot of

Definition

A numeral/quantifier meaning 'many, much, a lot of', used before nouns. Stronger than 多 (which usually follows the noun as a predicate).

numeral
manymucha lot of

Examples

  • 很多。
    Jīn tiān chāo shì yǒu hěn duō rén.
    There are lots of people in the supermarket today.
  • 很多。
    Tā hē le hěn duō shuǐ.
    He drank a lot of water.
  • 很多。
    Wǒ huā le hěn duō shí jiān zuò zhè jiàn shì.
    I spent a lot of time doing this.

Origin

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
彳彳chì
Sound part声符shēngfú
艮
艮gèn很hěn
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

很 is made from 彳, which points to its meaning, and 艮, which gives its sound.

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Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

多 originally showed two pieces of meat placed together; the repeated meat shape gives the sense of many.

Open 多 →

Grammar

Appears in
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