何等 + 形容词
how very …! (formal exclamation)
Structure
（这／那是） 何等 ＋ 形容词 （＋ 的 ＋ 名词） ！
What it means
A weighty, literary exclamation: “how very …!”. 何等 is the written 多么.
How it is built
(这／那是) + 何等 + adjective (+ 的 + noun)！: 那是何等壮丽的景象！ (what a magnificent sight that is!). 何等壮丽 = 多么壮丽.
When to use it
Commentary, speeches and essays, often as 这是何等……！ or 那是何等……的……！ In conversation it sounds grand or ironic; there use 多么.
Watch out
No 很 or 非常: ✗ 何等很壮丽. It never asks how much: ✗ 这座山何等高？ ✓ 这座山多高？ Keep it apart from 何必 “why bother” and 何况 “let alone”.
Examples
一个在苦难中屹立不倒的民族，异口同声地发出惊天动地的呐喊——那是何等壮丽的景象！
A nation standing firm through its suffering, raising an earth-shaking cry with one voice: what a magnificent sight that is!
六天写完八个乐章，这需要何等惊人的毅力！
Eight movements in six days: what extraordinary stamina that took!
能和自己的偶像同台演出，对一个十几岁的孩子来说，这是何等幸运！
Sharing a stage with your idol, when you are still in your teens: what luck!
Learn this in Lesson 241 · HSK 9+: 黄河大合唱 (The Yellow River Cantata)
A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.
Open the lesson →