Most Effective Ways To Use ずいぶん, とても and かなり
ずいぶん (zuibun), とても (totemo) and かなり (kanari) 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 (zuibun) 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 “ずいぶん高いですね。(It’s so expensive (than I thought).)”. This 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。(___ is/are very/so A.)”, etc. For instance, “あれはずいぶん高い。(It’s very expensive.)”, “これはずいぶん大きい。(This is really big.)”, “それはずいぶん小さい。(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 “これはずいぶん大きいです。(This is really big.)” as polite and formal.
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Sample
yukaバスからずいぶん多くの人が降りたね。 (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.)（basu kara zuibun ōku no hito ga orita ne.）
tatsuyaここからずいぶん遠かったよ。 (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.)（koko kara zuibun tōkatta yo.）
yukaあなたと過ごした時間はずいぶん短く感じたよ。 (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.)（anata to sugoshita jikan wa zuibun mijikaku kanjita yo.）
tatsuyaずいぶん考えさせられる本だったよ。 (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.)（zuibun kangae saserareru hon datta yo.）
とても (totemo)
Very / A lot / So
とても (totemo) is a 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, “あれはとても高い。(It’s very expensive.)”, “これはとても大きい。(This is so big.), “それはとても小さいです。(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, とても遠い would be チョー遠い, めっちゃ遠い and バリ遠い. You would use them to people who you get along with. You should use とても to your boss, elderly people and for business letters instead of them. Everyone could use “とても” as casual, polite and formal such as “これはともて大きいよ。(This is really big.)” as casual and “これはとても大きいです。(This is really big.)” as polite and formal. Lastly, if you say “あれはずいぶん高い。(That is very expensive.)”, you are amazed at that price which is very expensive than you are thinking. Whereas, if you say “あれはとても高い。(That is very expensive.)”, the fact that that thing is just very expensive.
Sample
yukaバスからとても多くの人が降りたね。 (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.) （basu kara totemo ōku no hito ga orita ne.）
tatsuyaここからとても遠かったよ。 (It’s quite far from here.) (离这儿相当远呢。) (여기에서 꽤 멀었어.) (Đi từ đây cũng khá xa đấy.)（koko kara totemo tōkatta yo.）
yukaあなたと過ごした時間はとても短く感じたよ。 (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.)（anata to sugoshita jikan wa totemo mijikaku kanjita yo.）
tatsuyaとても考えさせられる本だったよ。 (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.)（totemo kangae saserareru hon datta yo.）
かなり (kanari)
Very / A lot / So (than I thought)
かなり (kanari) 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 かなり多い. When you think something is so many, you would say とても多い. Finally, when you didn’t think something is so many, you would use ずいぶん多い.
Sample
yukaバスからかなり多くの人が降りたね。 (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.) （basu kara kanari ōku no hito ga orita ne.）
tatsuyaここからかなり遠かったよ。 (It’s quite far from here.) (离这儿相当远呢。) (여기에서 꽤 멀었어.) (Đi từ đây cũng khá xa đấy.)（koko kara kanari tōkatta yo.）
yukaあなたと過ごした時間はかなり短く感じたよ。 (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.)（anata to sugoshita jikan wa kanari mijikaku kanjita yo.）
tatsuyaかなり考えさせられる本だったよ。 (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.)（kanari kangae saserareru hon datta yo.）
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