非常
very; extremely
HSK level
- Pinyin
- fēicháng
- Part of speech
- adverb
- Level
- HSK 2
- Strokes
- 19
- Register
- neutral
- In episodes
- 7
Stroke order for 非常
非常 is written with 19 strokes (非: 8, 常: 11). The animation replays automatically.
What does 非常 mean?
非常 (fēicháng) is an intensifying adverb meaning 'very / extremely,' literally 'not ordinary.'
It modifies adjectives and emotional/state verbs to mark a stronger degree than 很 (hěn): 这个菜很好吃 ('this dish is tasty') vs. 这个菜非常好吃 ('this dish is extremely tasty'). Two things differ from English 'very.' First, Chinese has a hierarchy of intensifiers — 有点 < 很 < 非常 < 特别 < 太 — and 非常 sits in the upper-middle, stronger than 很 but slightly more measured than the spoken 太...
了 pattern. Second, 非常 sounds slightly written/polished compared to the very casual 特别 (tèbié, also 'really / especially'); a Chinese teacher would likely use 非常, while close friends in casual chat might prefer 特别 or simple 很. 非常 cannot directly modify nouns or verbs of action — only adjectives and stative verbs.
Character by character
Memory hook: 'Not ordinary' — if it's not ordinary, it must be extreme.
Hear 非常 in real episodes
非常 appears in 7 Fluentide podcast episodes at natural native speed, 4 of them below. Each sentence plays at the easiest difficulty it exists in — switch it to hear the same moment at your level, with full pinyin and English throughout.
中微子非常小，它们可以穿过你的手，穿过你的房间，还可以穿过整个地球。
Neutrinos are extremely small; they can pass through your hand, through your room, and even through the whole Earth.
Francis Halzen Wins the Physics Nobel for Turning a Cubic Kilometer of Antarctic Ice Into a Telescope for Ghost Particles
很多人听到这个消息，都非常难过。
Many people were very upset to hear this news.
French High-School Students Walk Out Over Missing Teachers: 250,000 March, Thousands Arrested and 500 Schools ShutElementary
她工作的实验室，在俄罗斯的西伯利亚，那里非常冷。
The lab where she worked is in Siberia, Russia, where it's extremely cold.
A Russian Lab Worker Died After a Test Tube Broke at a Plague Institute. Russia Says It Wasn't Plague, but Quarantined 200 People.Elementary
细菌非常小，眼睛看不见，可是它们是活的。
Bacteria are extremely small; your eyes can't see them, but they're alive.
Tongue Scrapers Beat Toothbrushes at Fighting Bad Breath — and Your Tongue's Bacteria May Help Lower Your Blood PressureElementary
Example sentences
这个电影非常好看。
Zhège diànyǐng fēicháng hǎokàn.
This movie is extremely good.
neutral
我非常喜欢吃饺子。
Wǒ fēicháng xǐhuan chī jiǎozi.
I really love eating dumplings.
spoken
非常感谢您的帮助。
Fēicháng gǎnxiè nín de bāngzhù.
Thank you very much for your help.
polite
今天天气非常热。
Jīntiān tiānqì fēicháng rè.
The weather is extremely hot today.
neutral
学习汉语非常重要。
Xuéxí Hànyǔ fēicháng zhòngyào.
Studying Chinese is extremely important.
neutral
Common phrases with 非常
Synonyms
很 is the default intensifier 'very,' but it's so common in Chinese that it often just marks adjectives without strong emphasis. 非常 is a real 'extremely' — use it when you actually mean a stronger degree.
特别 ('especially / really') is more colloquial and warmer than 非常. In speech, 特别好 sounds friendly; 非常好 sounds slightly more formal or polished.
十分 ('fully / very') is a written / formal alternative to 非常 — common in essays, reviews, news. Same intensity, more bookish register.
Don't confuse 非常 with
Frequently asked questions
Related words from the same episodes
Acquire it by listening
Meet 非常 again — in real Chinese, at your level.
You just saw 非常 in 7 episodes. Fluentide keeps feeding you news episodes at your level, so this word — and thousands like it — resurface in real sentences until they stick. Full pinyin and translation every time. Free to start.