那叫一个 + 形容词
really, so very; just (colloquial exclamation)
Structure
话题 ， 那叫一个 形容词（！）
What it means
A lively spoken exclamation: name a topic, then say it was extreme, good or bad: it was just so…, you wouldn't believe how…. Northern in flavour, now heard everywhere.
How it is built
Topic，那叫一个 + bare adjective（！）: 他做的红烧肉，那叫一个香！ (The braised pork he makes smells absolutely wonderful!). The sentence usually ends there.
When to use it
For vivid chat and storytelling, good or bad (那叫一个热闹, 那叫一个惨); more colourful than 非常 or 特别. Keep it out of formal writing; in a report it belongs only inside the quoted words of ordinary people.
Watch out
Bare adjective, nothing before or after it: ✗那叫一个很热闹 ✗那叫一个热闹得很 ✓那叫一个热闹！
Examples
那场面，那叫一个热闹！
What a scene — it was buzzing like you wouldn’t believe!
昨天那场雨，那叫一个大，街上的水都没过膝盖了。
That rain yesterday was something else: the water in the street came up over our knees.
他做的红烧肉，那叫一个香！
The braised pork he makes smells absolutely wonderful!
Learn this in Lesson 146 · HSK 7–9: 马拉松热 (Marathon fever)
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.
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