なかなか (or 中々 in kanji) is an adverb in Japanese that is frequently translated as 'very', or 'considerably'. It is regularly paired directly with other adjectives, or before nouns (with の coming between なかなか and the noun).
なかなか can also sometimes have the nuance of being something that is 軽視しがたい. This basically translates as 'difficult to dismiss', but is a bit closer to English expressions like 'nothing to scoff at', or 'not to be taken lightly'.
Fun Fact
なかなか highlights that something is 'considerably/extremely (A)', or 'far more (A) than expected'. If we imagine a dartboard, where the whole board shows the intensity level of a specific word, and なかなか represents the bullseye, this is basically the nuance. '(A) is the middle (bullseye) example of (B)'.
Fun Fact
なかなか, coming from the kanji 中 meaning 'within', can be thought to mean the 'middle' or 'most' (A).
Synonymes
Antonymes
En lien
Divers
Progression Vocabulaire
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Exemples
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このお菓子は中々おいしい。
This snack is quite good.
ここからの景色は中々いいですね。
The view from here is quite decent.
ここの会員になるのは中々難しい。
Becoming a member here is considerably difficult.
富士登山は中々大変です。
Reaching the top of Mt. Fuji is quite grueling.
この子が描く絵は中々のものです。
The paintings that this child paints are quite (extraordinary).
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Amazing, thank you! I had a feeling it was something like that, but your explanation made things much clearer. ありがとうございます!
GreattFriend
What does it mean by “extent”?
JamesBunpro
It is hinting that the missing word has something to do with expressing “extent”. The grey hints (tense hints) are there to help with conjugation/part of speech, since if you have the English translation or the nuance hint turned off it may not be obvious what is wanted. Let me know if it still doesn’t make sense!
For future reference, you can find a list of our most common tense hints here.
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