太 + adjective + 了HSK 1
How do you say something is too expensive in Chinese?
太…了 wraps an adjective to say 'so…!' or 'too…', adding strong feeling: 太好吃了 = so delicious!
很 + adjective — adjective predicateHSK 1
Why do you need 很 before an adjective in Chinese?
很 plus an adjective forms the predicate; no separate word for "is" is needed.
不太 + adjective — not veryHSK 1
How do you say "not very" in Chinese?
不太 softens a negative judgement. Because 太 is fourth tone, 不 is read bú here.
有点儿 + adj（a little too... — usually a complaint）HSK 2
有点儿 goes before an adjective and adds a negative, complaining tone — something is a bit more than you'd like.
Adj + 极了 — extremelyHSK 2
极了 after an adjective intensifies it to mean "extremely."
adj + 一点儿（asking for a small change — neutral）HSK 2
adj + 一点儿 asks for a small change and doesn't carry a complaint — the opposite feel from 有点儿.
Adj + 多了 — much more (comparative change)HSK 2
多了 after an adjective shows a big improvement compared to before.
越来越 + adjective — more and more…HSK 3
越来越 shows a quality increasing over time.
越 A 越 B — the more A, the more BHSK 3
Shows one thing growing along with another: 我越喝越觉得好喝。
越来越 (more and more)HSK 3
越来越 + adjective describes something increasing over time: 越来越好 (better and better), 越来越冷 (colder and colder).
How to use this page
These 11 patterns all do the same job in Chinese, so they are worth seeing side by side — the differences between them are easier to feel when they are next to each other than when they are spread across six HSK levels. They range from HSK 1–3.
Grammar sticks through reading, not through lists. Each entry links to the reading it was taken from. Skim the page, then go read one of them and come back when a sentence stops making sense.