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挺

tǐng

The Chinese 'pretty' that people say all day long

The picture One shoulder lifting a little and the head nodding while you speak. 挺 lifts a shoulder for 'pretty'; 非常 stretches the arm out for 'extremely'.

Adverbs and sound words

Where the picture shows up in 挺

  1. light praise

    这家店的咖啡挺好喝的。

    zhè jiā diàn de kā fēi tǐng hǎo hē de

    The coffee at this shop is pretty good.

    Setting the cup down after one sip with a small lift of the shoulder

    In speech it is far more natural as 挺…的, with 的 closing the phrase.

  2. even hardship, lightly

    今天上班挺累的。

    jīn tiān shàng bān tǐng lèi de

    Work was pretty tiring today.

    Dropping a bag and sinking into a chair with one shrug of the shoulders

  3. a verdict to buy

    这个价格挺便宜,我们买吧。

    zhè ge jià gé tǐng pián yi, wǒ men mǎi ba

    This price is pretty cheap, let's buy it.

    Nodding at the price tag and putting the item into the basket

  4. sizing up someone's skill

    他说中文说得挺流利。

    tā shuō zhōng wén shuō de tǐng liú lì

    He speaks Chinese pretty fluently.

    Eyebrows going up and the head nodding twice while the other person talks

    After a verb it comes after 得.

  5. sizing up a distance

    医院离这儿挺近的,走十分钟。

    yī yuàn lí zhèr tǐng jìn de, zǒu shí fēn zhōng

    The hospital is pretty close, ten minutes on foot.

    A finger pointing to the end of the street with a small lift of the shoulder

All of it in one picture

挺 is a shoulder lifted a little. Lift it over a sip of coffee and the coffee is pretty good; lift it on the way home and the day was pretty tiring. Lift it at a price tag and it becomes a decision to buy, lift it at someone's Chinese and it becomes praise, lift it at a map and the walk becomes doable. Because it never pushes to the end, it is the degree word spoken most often.

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