…着呢【zhe ne】

着呢 after an adjective makes it strong, about "really" or "and how". It ends a spoken sentence, and it tells the listener something they don't seem to know or have got wrong.

The speaker is usually reassuring or correcting. Someone worries about the time, and the answer is that it's still early; someone thinks a place is near, and it's far.

What it won't take

着呢 already carries the degree, so the adjective takes no 很, 非常 or 太. It also has no negative form, and it closes the sentence – it can't describe a noun.

• × 他很忙着呢 → 他忙着呢
• × 这个菜不好吃着呢 → 这个菜难吃着呢
• × 一个大着呢的房间 → 一个很大的房间

After a verb

After a verb, 着 and 呢 say an action is still going on, often with 正 or 在 in front. That is the continuing-action 着 with 呢 added, and the verb can take an object. The emphatic 着呢 follows an adjective.