なかなか (or 中々(なかなか) in kanji) is a 副詞(ふくし) (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).
-
ここのラーメンは中々(なかなか)美味(おい)しいね。
This ramen shop is pretty good.
ミムラさんもなかなか可愛(かわい)いよ。
Mimura-san is very cute.
あのシェフが作(つく)るパスタはなかなかの物(もの)だ。
The pasta that the chef makes is very good.
元(もと)カノはなかなかの美人(びじん)でしたが、性格(せいかく)が悪(わる)かったので別(わか)れました。
My ex-girlfriend was considerably beautiful, but her personality was bad, so I broke up with her.
なかなか can also sometimes have the nuance of being something that is 軽視(けいし)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’.
-
なかなかの事(こと)をしてくれたな。こんな事(こと)をお客(きゃく)さんにどう説明(せつめい)したらいいんだ。
You have done something that is difficult to dismiss, haven't you? How am I supposed to explain this to our client? (What you did cannot be taken lightly. How am I supposed to explain what has happened to our client?)
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)’.
なかなか, coming from the kanji 中(なか) meaning ‘within’, can be thought to mean the 'middle' or 'most' (A).