taihen and totemo

[leylia]

Hiya^_^ I got a simple question. Whats the difference between taihen and totemo as they are both used to emphasize "very" in japanese ^_^

Thankies in advance ^_^

[Spaztick]

"taihen" is used more often to mean "terrible" or "horrible", while "totemo" is used more for "very." I'd just stick to
totemo for now.

[Mukade]

Spaztick wrote:
"taihen" is used more often to mean "terrible" or "horrible", while "totemo" is used more for "very." I'd just stick to
totemo for now.

I agree. Totemo is your basic "very," whereas taihen is used in more limited instances. The only two I can think of off the top of my head, in fact, are:

The set statement - Taihen desu.
"That's terrible."

Or extremely formal situations like - Taihen seiwa ni natte, doumo arigatou gozaimashita.
(roughly) "Thank you so much for going out of your way for me."