とても, すごく, めっちゃ, マジで: how people really say “very”

Why とても is rarely heard in casual speech, what replaces it, and how すごく, めっちゃ, めちゃくちゃ, マジで and 超 each sound.

Ukeru notes · counts are from the current library (1,905 routines, 174,812 machine-transcribed lines) and update as it grows

The word the textbook gives you

The first word most textbooks teach for "very" is とても: とてもおいしいです, "it's very tasty". It is correct and polite, and you will never be wrong using it in class. In everyday conversation, though, friends rarely reach for it. They use a family of livelier intensifiers instead, and each one has its own sound and register.

The counts in this note come from machine-made transcripts of the 1,905 routines in our library, so read them as rough guides rather than exact figures. Comedy is also loud, fast and mostly casual, which tilts the numbers toward casual words.

とても: correct, but a little stiff

とても appears on only 44 lines in our library, from 32 comedians. Many of those lines are in polite speech, like この店がとてもいいということをお伺いしたんですけど, "I heard this shop is very good", or in a deliberately proper voice, like 君はとても魅力的だなと思って, "I think you're very charming". In a casual routine, that slightly stiff sound can be part of the joke.

とても has a second job that is easy to miss. With a negative, it means "can't possibly" or "by no means": とても無理です, "there's no way I can do it"; とても言えない, "I just can't say it". So when you hear とても, check whether a negative is coming.

すごく: the safe everyday choice

すごく comes from すごい, "amazing" or "tremendous". As an adverb it simply means "really, very": すごく楽しかった, "it was really fun". It works with friends and is still fine with coworkers when you are speaking politely: すごく助かりました, "that really helped".

In our library, すごく appears on 134 lines, a ratio of about 3 to 1 against とても. Treat that count with some care: it also catches すごくない？, "isn't that amazing?", where すごく is not an intensifier at all.

You will also hear すごい used directly as an adverb: すごい寒い, "super cold". Grammar books call this nonstandard, but it is very common in casual speech. And when すごい stands alone as a reaction, it often gets roughened to すげえ; see すげえ／すご！ and the note on the rough “-ee” sound.

めっちゃ and めちゃくちゃ: the everyday favorites

めっちゃ is an emphatic form of めちゃ, which itself comes from めちゃくちゃ. It is traditionally associated with Kansai speech and appears in the Kansai-ben note, but it is now heard widely across Japan in casual talk. めっちゃ眠い, "I'm so sleepy"; めっちゃいい人, "a really nice person".

In our library, めっちゃ appears on 602 lines, from 149 comedians, a ratio of about 14 to 1 against とても.

The longer forms, めちゃくちゃ and めちゃめちゃ, appear on 623 lines, about as many as めっちゃ, so together this family far outnumbers とても. They feel a bit more emphatic than めっちゃ: めちゃくちゃ怖い, "terrifying". Note that めちゃくちゃ is also an adjective meaning "a mess" or "absurd": 部屋がめちゃくちゃだ, "the room is a wreck". If it comes before だ or な, as in めちゃくちゃな話, "an absurd story", it is probably that meaning, not "very". See めっちゃ.

マジで: "seriously"

マジ means "serious", so マジで is "seriously", "for real". As an intensifier it goes before an adjective or verb: マジで眠い, "I'm seriously sleepy"; マジでやばい, "this is seriously bad". It adds a feeling of "I'm not exaggerating".

In our library, マジで and まじで appear on 512 lines, but a good share of those are not "very" at all. マジで？ on its own is a reaction, "for real?", and マジで often gets tacked onto the end of a line for emphasis: 早くして、マジで, "hurry up, seriously". The count also picks up the polite マジです and unrelated phrases that happen to contain the same sounds. So the number tells you マジで is very common, not exactly how often it means "very". See マジで？.

超, やばい and ほんとに

超 (ちょう) means "super" in casual speech: 超楽しい, "super fun"; 超怖い, "super scary". Its count is not reliable here, because the same character starts many ordinary words, like 超能力, "psychic powers", or 超大作, "an epic". You can search for 超 and sort the casual ones from the compounds yourself.

やばい started as "dangerous" or "bad", but in casual speech it can mean "amazing" too, and it also works as an adverb: やばいうまい, "insanely tasty". Its meaning depends heavily on tone and context. See やばい.

ほんとに, "really, truly", is the everyday form of 本当に. It sits close to すごく in register and adds sincerity: ほんとにありがとう, "thank you, really". See ほんとに.

How they sound, side by side

All of these examples mean roughly "it's very quiet". The difference is who you are talking to and how much energy you are putting into it.

Using them yourself

• とても: safe everywhere, especially in polite speech, writing and with people you don't know well. It can sound a little stiff with friends.
• すごく and ほんとに: fine with friends, and fine with coworkers or teachers inside polite sentences: すごくおいしいです, ほんとに助かりました.
• めっちゃ, めちゃくちゃ, 超: for friends, family and casual chat. Avoid them with your boss, a client or in an interview.
• マジで and やばい: the most slangy. Use them with friends your own age. To a superior, マジですか？ can sound flippant; 本当ですか？ is safer.

A simple rule: if you would say "super" or "insanely" in English, you are in めっちゃ territory. If you would say "very" in a meeting, use とても or すごく.

Try it

• Search the library for めっちゃ, すごく and とても, and notice how the speakers and situations differ.
• Take one sentence, like "I'm really tired" (疲れた), and say it with とても, すごく, めっちゃ and マジで. Who would you say each version to?
• Watch the scenes on めっちゃ and マジで？, and check whether each マジで means "very" or "for real?".