Simply, practically: 简直
Marks a description as close to literally true — an exaggeration the speaker stands by. It goes with strong expressions, never with mild degree words such as 很 or 有点儿.
Structure
主语 + 简直 + 太…了／跟…一样／像…／让人… ｜ V得 + 简直 + …
Explanation
Chinese words in this text can be activated to show a dictionary gloss.
“His Chinese is practically the same as a native speaker’s.” says that the description that follows is very nearly accurate, even though it sounds like an exaggeration. It intensifies by pushing a comparison or a degree to its limit.
What follows must therefore be strong: …, …, …, …, , . ！ “The scenery here is simply stunning!” ， “This room is so small and dark it’s practically a box.” In a degree complement it follows : .
Because is an intensifier of extremes, it cannot combine with mild degree words. and are contradictions — is neutral and is a softener. is an adverb and follows the subject. Do not confuse it with “all along”, which concerns time, not degree.
Correct
Say each one out loud before moving on. The audio is a reference pronunciation, not a model to imitate exactly — match the tone contour, not the voice.
这儿的风景简直太美了！這兒的風景簡直太美了！
Zhèr (fourth tone, falling) de (neutral tone) fēngjǐng (first tone, high and level) jiǎnzhí (third tone, dipping) tài (fourth tone, falling) měi (third tone, dipping) le! (neutral tone)···
The scenery here is simply stunning!
他汉语说得简直跟中国人一样。他漢語說得簡直跟中國人一樣。
Tā (first tone, high and level) Hànyǔ (fourth tone, falling) shuō (first tone, high and level) de (neutral tone) jiǎnzhí (third tone, dipping) gēn (first tone, high and level) Zhōngguórén (first tone, high and level) yíyàng. (second tone, rising)···
His Chinese is practically indistinguishable from a native speaker’s.
这么简单的问题都不会，简直让人不敢相信。這麼簡單的問題都不會，簡直讓人不敢相信。
Zhème (fourth tone, falling) jiǎndān (third tone, dipping) de (neutral tone) wèntí (fourth tone, falling) dōu (first tone, high and level) bú (second tone, rising) huì, (fourth tone, falling) jiǎnzhí (third tone, dipping) ràng (fourth tone, falling) rén (second tone, rising) bù (fourth tone, falling) gǎn (third tone, dipping) xiāngxìn. (first tone, high and level)···
Not being able to answer such an easy question — it’s hard to believe.
Incorrect — Common mistakes
These sentences are wrong. They are printed here on purpose, each one paired with the repair and the reason, because the error you can recognise is the error you stop making.
Not quite
Incorrect sentence: 这儿的风景简直很美。
Correct
Correct sentence: 这儿的风景简直太美了。
Why: 简直 needs an extreme expression. 很 is a neutral degree word and leaves 简直 nothing to intensify.
Not quite
Incorrect sentence: 简直他说得跟中国人一样。
Correct
Correct sentence: 他说得简直跟中国人一样。
Why: 简直 is an adverb: it follows the subject, and in a degree complement it follows 得.
Not quite
Incorrect sentence: 他简直在这家公司工作。
Correct
Correct sentence: 他一直在这家公司工作。
Why: “All along, continuously” is 一直. 简直 is about degree, not time.
Compared with
Most errors with this pattern are not errors about this pattern — they are a neighbouring pattern arriving at the wrong moment. Read these side by side.
In 风景很美, 很 is close to neutral: it is there mainly because a bare adjective predicate sounds incomplete. 简直 is the opposite kind of word — it insists that the description is extreme. So the two do not combine: replace 很 with 太…了, …极了 or a vivid comparison when you add 简直. 风景很美 “the scenery is beautiful” → 风景简直太美了 “the scenery is simply stunning”.
Adjectival predicates with 很 →Mini quiz
Question 1 / 3Total score: 0
Fill the gap: 这个房间又小又暗，___ 像个盒子。