很是【hěnshì】

很是 is a stronger, more written 很. It goes in front of an adjective or a verb of feeling – 高兴, 担心, 不安, 感动, 吃惊 – in narration and formal writing.

Feelings and judgements

Its home is a reaction: how someone felt, or how a writer judges a situation. Two-syllable words follow it more often than one-syllable ones.

In a conversation, 很 or 非常 is the natural choice. 很是 in a chat sounds like reading aloud from a story.

很是 and 是

The 是 in 很是 is not the verb "to be", and 很是 does not go in front of a noun to say "really is".

• × 他很是老师 → 他是老师

Like 很, it does not go into a 比 sentence.

• × 今天比昨天很是冷 → 今天比昨天冷得多