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Chinese Grammar Bank
HOW TO USE 极了
In this short lesson, we will look at how to use 极了 in Chinese to intensify positive adjectives.
极了 is something you’ll hear very often in spoken Chinese, especially amongst the younger generations.
HOW TO USE 极了 | STRUCTURE
Just as with “死了”, “极了” is also a kind of degree complement. It is mainly used to strengthen your tone and intensify the meaning of the positive adjective you are using.
You can think of “极了” as meaning “extremely” or “very”. The sentence structure goes like this:
PATTERN
Subject + Adjective + 极了
Note that you need to pair “极” with “了” in this pattern, otherwise that would be incorrect.
Some examples with a positive connotation:
HOW TO USE 极了 WITH NEGATIVE ADJECTIVES
As you can see from these examples, using “极了” can take your positive adjectives to the extreme!
For negative adjectives, the 死了(sǐle) structure will be preferred, but sometimes, “极了” can also be used to qualify both positive and derogatory adjectives.
Let’s see some examples with a negative connotation:
COMMON MISTAKES WITH 极了 IN CHINESE
It’s true that “极了” works with a wide range of adjectives, but don’t take for granted that it’ll work with all the adjectives.
Though there’s no grammar rule about this, you do need to note some expression habits in Chinese. For instance, if you want to say that something is urgent, then you can’t say:
- 这件事紧急极了。❌
- zhè jiàn shì jǐn jí jí le
This is because the Chinese characters “急” and “极” have the same pronunciation. It would sound weird if you combined the two characters. So instead, you can use the phrase “非常”：
- 这件事非常紧急。
- zhè jiàn shì fēi cháng jǐn jí
- This affair is very urgent.
Anyway, you can avoid this kind of mistake by observing when native speakers use the phrase “极了”. That is an efficient way to make you sound more idiomatic and vivid!
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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What is 极了?
极了 is a degree complement mainly used to strengthen your tone and intensify the meaning of the positive adjective you are using.
How to pronounce 极了?
极了 is pronounced jí le.
How is 极了 used in Chinese?
极了 has about the same meaning as “extremely” or “very”.
The structure is:
Subject + Adjective + 极了
What are some examples with 极了?
这道菜好吃极了 ! zhè dào cài hǎo chī jí le | This dish is delicious!
听了这件事，我难过极了。tīng le zhè jiàn shì ，wǒ nán guò jí le | I was so sad to hear this.
他的成绩好极了。tā de chéng jì hǎo jí le | His grades are excellent.
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