adverbial N3 common casualpolitewritten

なかなか — quite / impressively

なかなか

Meaning

Carries admiring surprise — 'better than I'd assumed.' Saying 彼かれはなかなかやるね praises someone for exceeding expectations.

Key sentence

This dish is quite good.

Examples

Her paintings are quite impressive.
That's a pretty good idea.

Easily confused with

かなり かなり is a neutral 'considerably'; なかなか adds admiring surprise — 'impressively, more than expected.' なかなか〜ない With a negative the feel reverses to frustration: なかなか来こない = '(it) just won't come.' See the linked entry.

See なかなか in real sentences

Jengo shows なかなか the way you actually meet it: inside real Japanese sentences, so it sticks instead of staying an abstract rule.

Study it in Jengo

Sources Compiled with reference to A Dictionary of Intermediate Japanese Grammar.

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