# 非常 / 太



## themadprogramer

大家好，

I have seen that most sources translate 非常 as "extremely", kind of like 太. 
But when we dissect this compound we get 非 and 常, meaning anti/not and often respectively.
So wouldn't extraordinarily be a better way to translate it?

我太渴   -> I'm extremely thirsty
我非常渴 -> I'm extraordinarily thirsty


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## learntheworld

"Extremely" and "extraordinarily" are synonyms. Generally, I don't think I would say which is better than which as a translation of 非常.


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## retrogradedwithwind

A very creative idea. I think it must be confirmed by native speakers that extremely is distinguished from extraordinarily.


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## brofeelgood

The word 常 can be broadly defined as:
- long-term, lasting e.g. 常年, 常驻
- often, frequent, e.g. 时常, 经常 (the one you mentioned)
- ordinary, usual, normal, e.g. 寻常, 正常

If you pair 非 with the last one, 非常 becomes *not + ordinary* or *not + usual* = extraordinary, unusual
- I'm extraordinary thirsty.
- I'm unusually thirsty.

Some other words that mean "very" are 很, 特别, 十分.
- 我很渴
- 我十分渴
- 我特别渴

太 on the other hand, usually means "very" only in ex/proclamations and interjections, e.g.
- 太好了!
- 太美了!

Otherwise it is similar to "too" in definition, e.g.
太残忍了 - too cruel
太多了 - too much
太口渴 - too thirsty


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## tulee

Ahmet, your train of thought seems more fitting for the Japanese forum haha. ”非常出口“ There is used in the way you explained in your first sentence "not regular exit", which means the emergency exit (incase of a fire, etc.)


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## themadprogramer

That's nice to know because I do in fact once remember seeing that in a hotel and was like "EXTREMELY DOOR? EXTREMELY WHAT?" 

Until I read emergency exit above it


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## retrogradedwithwind

tulee said:


> Ahmet, your train of thought seems more fitting for the Japanese forum haha. ”非常出口“ There is used in the way you explained in your first sentence "not regular exit", which means the emergency exit (incase of a fire, etc.)



This usage is allowed in Chinese too. 
非常人做非常事。

Usually 非常 is an adverb, 非常高兴，非常难得
But it's a adjective less often, which means not(非) common(常), not ordinary.
非常出口，非常人


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## SuperXW

I always think the better translation of 太 is "too"...


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## Pluvia

I agree with SuperXW. 
我太渴 -> I'm too thirsty.
我非常渴 -> I'm very thirsty.

If you want to say "I'm extremely thirsty", you would either repeat "very", e.g. 我非常非常渴, or just stress the "very" in speech. 

Also, I don't think you can dissect a compound word to provide a "better" translation. The word is what it means, if you dissect the word, it wouldn't be itself anymore, right?


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## SuperXW

And, without a context, we usually translate "very" as 非常,  "extremely" as 极端, 极度地.


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## themadprogramer

As far as I can understand

很 < 非常 (Unless used to mean something such as extraordinary circumstances) < 太

Or are 很 and 非常 interchangeable?


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## Ghabi

很 < 非常 < 太 ... there is really no such a scale. For one thing, as you probably know, words like 很 are in many cases just used as a linking device, without any modifying power, in a declarative sentence, as in

-她佷美 "she's pretty" not necessarily "she's very pretty"
-质量较好 "the quality is good" not   necessarily "the quality is better"
-今天心情特別好　"I'm in a good mood today", not  necessarily "I'm in a particularly good mood today"

The actual translations can only be  determined by context and the way the sentence is delivered (whether the syllable is stressed or elongated etc). And, as remarked in post#9, we should be wary of the trap of "etymological fallacy".


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## Skatinginbc

It is true that the etymological meaning of 佷 (i.e., 行難也, 不聽從也)  has no evident connection to its current meanings, just as the English intensifiers _awful_ (e.g., awful sick) and _badly_ (e.g., badly in need) deviate greatly from their original meanings (i.e., _awful_ "commanding awe",_ badly_ "poorly").  However, not every semantic change provokes an etymological fallacy. 非常 "very", in my opinion, is still pretty much bound to its historical definitions.     
她佷美 "she's pretty" vs. 她非常美 "she's very pretty" ==> Unlike 佷, 非常 does NOT become merely a grammatical device that carries no actual meaning.    

非常 = 非 "not" + 常.  常 has multiple functions and meanings, for instance,  
1. NOUN meaning "routine, norm": 非常 is thus "not routine, not normal circumstances", that is, "emergency" (e.g., 非常出口 "emergency exit") or 突如其来的事变 (e.g., 宋  苏轼： 事出於非常，变起於不测). 
2. Adjective or adverb: 非常 "out of the norm" could be one standard deviation above the mean (above 84.135% of the population) or, more strictly, two standard deviations above the mean (above 97.725% of the population, e.g., 《史记》：盖世必有非常之人 ==> 非常 = 非比寻常 "exceptional").  非常 followed by a noun (e.g., 非常时期, 非常手段) tends to have a stricter interpretation   (e.g., two standard deviations above the mean).  In this case, it  corresponds to "extreme", "exceptional", "extraordinary", "atypical",  and so forth.  The concept of "norm" is subjective and fluid, so much so that  virtually anything above the mean could potentially be described as 非常 (e.g., 唐  李德裕： 端氏城是刘从諫近年修筑, 非常牢固 ==> 非常 = 很, 十分 "very"). 非常 followed by an adjective or verb (e.g., 非常高兴, 非常爱)  tends to have a looser interpretation (e.g., simply above average).   In this case, it serves as an intensifier meaning "very".   

The notion of 太 is similar to the statistical concept of extreme scores.  In a negative sense, it is an outlier that falls in the rejection zone and needs to be discarded.  Thus 太甚 is too much to be acceptable or tolerable.  In a positive sense, it is a near-perfect or perfect score, the greatest, highest or maximal score.  太好了! = Great! Perfect!  太英俊了! = So handsome, perfect!  太好吃了! = So delicious, perfect!


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## genius_clark

非常 is very
太 is too
like this：
他非常高，很多女孩喜欢他。
He is very tall, many girls like him.
他太高了，我们最大的衣服都小。
He is too tall to wear our biggest clothes.

Hope this can help you


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