很喜欢 / 很想 / 很担心【hěn xǐhuan / hěn xiǎng / hěn dānxīn】

很 normally goes before adjectives, but a group of verbs takes it too: verbs of liking, wanting, worrying, understanding. 很 then means "really" or "very much", and it goes before the verb, never at the end of the sentence.

The usual ones are 喜欢, 爱, 想, 希望, 担心, 怕, 关心, 了解, 同意, 需要. 很想 + person is "miss someone a lot".

很有 + noun

有 with an abstract noun works the same way: 很有意思 "very interesting", 很有名 "famous", 很有用 "useful".

"Very much" goes before the verb

English puts "very much" at the end. Chinese puts 很 in front of the verb.

• × 我喜欢她很多 → 我很喜欢她
• × 我喜欢中国菜非常 → 我非常喜欢中国菜

Action verbs don't take 很

吃, 跑, 学习 and other action verbs can't take 很. To say someone does a lot of something, use an adverb like 常常 or a 得 phrase.

• × 他很吃 → 他很能吃 / 他吃得很多
• × 我很学习 → 我学习很努力

很不 or 不太

很不 + verb is a strong negative, "really don't". 不太 + verb is a mild one, "don't much".