Degree adverbs include those indicating an excessive degree, like 太 tai4 ‘too (much)’ and 过分 guo4fen4 ‘excessively, too (much)’; a maximum degree, like 最 zui4 ‘the most’ and 极 ji2 ‘extremely’; a high degree, like 很 hen3 ‘very’, 非常 fei1chang2 ‘very’, 相当 xiang1dang1 ‘quite’, and 十分 shi2fen1 ‘quite’; and a low degree, like 有(一)点(儿 ) you3 (yi1) dian3 (er0) ‘a little’ and 稍微 shao1wei1 ‘a little bit’.
Degree adverbs can be used in comparison, for example, 比较 bi3jiao4 ‘comparatively’, 更 geng4 ‘even more’, and 还 hai2 ‘still’.
Some degree adverbs express not only degree but also the speaker’s evaluative attitude toward what is talked about, for example, 太 tai4 ‘too (much)’ indicates that the speaker considers the situation “excessive”, 绝顶 jue2ding3 ‘extremely, utterly’ typically connotes a positive stance, 过于 guo4yu2 ‘overly, excessively’ connotes a negative stance.
Reference
Biq, Yung-O and Chu-ren Huang. 2016. Adverbs. In A Reference Grammar of Chinese, eds. by Chu-Ren Huang and Dingxu Shi. Cambridge University Press.
