Difference between revisions of "Expressing "not very" with "bu tai""

Revision as of 08:56, 16 March 2012

You may be familiar with using 太 (tài) to express "too" in the sense of "too expensive." There's a similar pattern in the negative, which just means "not very" or "not so" (literally "not too"). Note that this pattern does not normally use 了 (le).

Structure

Subject + 不 + 太 + Adjective

Note: This pattern can also be used with non-adjectives. See below for more info.

Examples

Some examples:

不太 sentences
Subject	不太	Adj / V
我	不太	高兴	。
他	不太	好看	。
老师	不太	友好	。
我	不太	喜欢	。
她	不太	想	去。

Note: This pattern can be used with modal verbs (e.g. 会, 能) as well as psychological verbs (e.g. 喜欢, 崇拜), as in the last two examples.

Sources and further reading

Books

Chinese: An Essential Grammar, Second Edition (pp. 200) →buy
Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 1 (pp. 180-1)　→buy

@@ Line 20: / Line 20: @@
 |+不太 sentences
 |-
-! Subject !! <em>不</em> !! 太 !! Adjective !!
+! Subject !! <em>不 太</em> !! Adj / V !!
 |-
-| 我 || <em>不</em> || 太 || 高兴 ||。
+| 我 || <em>不 太</em> || 高兴 ||。
 |-
-| 他 || <em>不</em> || 太 || 好看 ||。
+| 他 || <em>不 太</em> || 好看 ||。
 |-
-| 老师 || <em>不</em> || 太 || 友好 ||。
+| 老师 || <em>不 太</em> || 友好 ||。
 |-
-| 我 || <em>不</em> || 太 || 喜欢 ||。
+| 我 || <em>不 太</em> || 喜欢 ||。
 |-
-| 她 || <em>不</em> || 太 || 想 || 去 。
+| 她 || <em>不 太</em> || 想 || 去 。
 |}