非常 / 特别 / 比较【fēicháng / tèbié / bǐjiào】

These go where 很 goes, in front of the adjective, and unlike 很 they carry real weight. From weakest to strongest: 比较 "fairly", 挺…的 "pretty, quite", 特别 "especially", 非常 "extremely". 很 sits between 比较 and 挺 as the neutral filler.

As an adjective, 特别 means "special": 一个特别的地方.

比较 hedges

比较 lets you avoid committing. 这个比较贵 is a soft way of saying something costs too much, and it does not need a second thing to compare against.

挺 takes 的

挺 is casual, and the sentence usually closes with 的. Leaving the 的 off is possible but sounds clipped.

With 不

不 in front of 太, 很 or 特别 softens the adjective to "not very". A degree adverb in front of 不 does the opposite and strengthens the negative.

Common mistakes

One degree adverb per adjective, and none of them fit a 比 sentence – a comparison takes only 更 and 还.

• × 非常很好 → 非常好
• × 他比我非常高 → 他比我高得多