「すごい」は？

[Sakura Girl]

「すごい」は英語で何と言いますか?　　I've heard it used many a time but I don't know what it means exactly, or how it's used...?

[Harisenbon]

It has so many meanings depending on context, but As a basic translation I would give "great".

The adjective form すごく is also often used as "very"

[Kates]

SUGOI is used a lot by itself as well, and could be translated at "cool!" or "wow!" or "amazing!"

But it is an adjective, which a general meaning of 'great', or even 'terrible'--sugoi just implies something is really incredible--in a good way or a bad.
IE: すごい事故　(sugoi jiko) -- a terrible accident
IE: すごい人気　(sugoi ninki) -- incredible popularity

As an adverb: SUGOKU
IE: すごく面白い　(sugoku omoshiroi) -- really interesting
IE: すごく悲しい (sugoku kanashii) -- extremely sad

Sugoi also is a kanji: 凄い

And as you can see, I took a few liberities with my translations--it would just depend on the situation and the words on which "very" you might want to use--but SUGOI is a VERY handy word to know, I think. I NEVER learned it in my four years in Japanese class, but I swear I heard it ten times the first day I was actually in Japan. ^_^

[AaRoN]

So is it a word used to exagerate a situation???