Most Effective Ways To Use ずいぶん, とても and かなり

ずいぶん, とても and かなり make you complicated, isn’t it? There are subtle differences. Even if you are complicated now, don’t worry about it. You would understand what their differences are after reading this. Let me introduce the way to correctly use them today!

ずいぶん(zuibun)

Very / A lot / So (than I thought)

Although ずいぶん is the exact same meaning of とても, there are subtle differences between them. The tips for using it that when using ずいぶん in a sentence, something is much bigger, smaller, higher, shorter, etc THAN YOU THOUGHT. For instance, if you ask a clerk, ‘How much is this cup?’ and the clerk answered ‘It’s $60.’, you could say “ずいぶん高たかいですね。(It’s so expensive (than I thought).)”. Which means, you thought the price of the cup is cheaper than $60 and you were thinking the price of it was $10 or so. That means when using ずいぶん in the sentence, you could show your surprise, unlike とても. The basic ways to use it is “___はずいぶんA。(___ very/so A.)”, etc. For instance, “あれはずいぶん高たかい。(It’s very expensive.)”, “これはずいぶん大おおきい。(This is really big.)”, “それはずいぶん小ちいさい。(It’s so small.)”, etc. Everyone could use “ずいぶん” as casual, polite and formal such as “これはずいぶん’おお’小きいよ。(This is really big.)” as casual and “これはずいぶん大おおきいです。(This is really big.)” as polite and formal.

Example

ゆか
バスからずいぶん多おおくの人ひとが降おりたね。 (There are so many people getting off the bus than I thought.) (下巴士的人还真多呢。) (버스에서 꽤 많은 사람들이 내렸네.) (Cũng nhiều người xuống xe buýt nhỉ.)

たつや
ここからずいぶん遠とおかったよ。 (It’s very far from here than I thought.) (从这里可是相当遥远呢。) (여기에서 꽤나 멀었다니까.) (Đi từ đây cũng khá xa đấy.)

ゆか
あなたと過すごした時間じかんはずいぶん短みじかく感かんじたよ。 (The time I spent with you felt like a very short time than I thought.) (我觉得和你共度的时光很短暂。) (당신과 지낸 시간은 꽤나 짧게 느껴지는 것 같아.) (Em cảm thấy thời gian ở cùng anh thật ngắn ngủi.)

たつや
ずいぶん考かんがえさせられる本ほんだったよ。 (The book was very thought-provoking than I thought.) (这是一本颇值得思考的书。) (꽤나 생각을 하게 만드는 책이었어.) (Cuốn sách này đã khiến tớ phải suy ngẫm khá nhiều đấy.)

とても(totemo)

Very / A lot / So

とても(totemo) is the simple meaning than ずいぶん. It means “very, a lot and so”. とても is the exact same meaning of ずいぶん, however, it doesn’t include “surprise”, unlike ずいぶん. You would simply use とても as an emphasizing word. The basic ways to use it is “___はとてもA。(___ is/are very A.)”, etc. For instance, “あれはとても高たかい。(It’s very expensive.)”, “これはとても大おおきい。(This is so big.), “それはとても小ちいさいです。(It is very small.), etc. When emphasizing とても, it would be とっても. Furthermore, the slang of とても is “チョー”, “めっちゃ”, “バリ”, etc. For instance, とても遠とおい would be チョー遠とおい, めっちゃ遠とおい and バリ遠とおい. You would use them to people who you get along with. You should use とても to your boss, elderly people and for the business letters instead of them. Everyone could use “とても” as casual, polite and formal such as “これはともて大おおきいよ。(This is really big.)” as casual and “これはとても大おおきいです。(This is really big.)” as polite and formal. Lastly, if you say “あれはずいぶん高たかい。(That is very expensive.)”, you are amazed that price which is very expensive than you are thinking. Whereas, if you say “あれはとても高たかい。(That is very expensive.)”, the fact that that thing is just very expensive.

Example

バスからとても多おおくの人ひとが降おりたね。 (There are so many people getting off the bus.) (从巴士上车的人很多。) (버스에서 사람들이 많이 내리네.) (Nhiều người xuống xe buýt quá nhỉ.)

ここからとても遠とおかったよ。 (It’s very far from here.) (离这儿很远呢。) (여기에서 굉장히 멀었어요.) (Đi từ đây xa lắm đấy.)

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あなたと過すごした時間じかんはとても短みじかく感かんじたよ。 (The time I spent with you felt like a very short time.) (我觉得和你在一起的时间非常短暂。) (당신과 지낸 시간은 무척 짧게 느껴지는 것 같아.) (Em cảm thấy thời gian ở cùng anh quá ngắn ngủi.)

とても考かんがえさせられる本ほんだったよ。 (The book was very thought-provoking.) (这是一本非常发人深省的书。) (무척 많은 생각이 드는 책이었어.) (Cuốn sách này đã khiến tớ phải suy ngẫm rất nhiều đấy.)

かなり

Quite

かなり means “Quite” and a degree of these words would be かなり < とても < ずいぶん. When you think something is quite many, you would say かなり多おおい. When you think something is so many, you would say とても多おおい. Finally, when you didn’t think something is so many, you would use ずいぶん多おおい.

Example

ゆか
バスからかなり多おおくの人ひとが降おりたね。 (There are quite many people getting off the bus.) (相当多的人从公交车上下来。) (버스에서 꽤 많은 사람들이 내렸네.) (Cũng khá nhiều người xuống xe buýt nhỉ.)

たつや
ここからかなり遠とおかったよ。 (It’s quite far from here.) (离这儿相当远呢。) (여기에서 꽤 멀었어.) (Đi từ đây cũng khá xa đấy.)

ゆか
あなたと過すごした時間じかんはかなり短みじかく感かんじたよ。 (The time I spent with you felt like a quite short time.) (离这儿相当远呢。) (여기에서 꽤 멀었어.) (Đi từ đây cũng khá xa đấy.)

たつや
かなり考かんがえさせられる本ほんだったよ。 (The book was quite thought-provoking.) (这是一本相当发人深省的书。) (꽤 많은 생각이 드는 책이었어.) (Cuốn sách này đã khiến tớ phải suy ngẫm khá nhiều đấy.)