Difference between とても and なかなか


I am having difficulty understanding the difference between とても and なかなか. The
English meaning is the same, so are they interchangeable?




As a native Japanese speaker I think it's weird "とても" and "なかなか" seem to be
the same in English.

That's because "とても" suggestion a different degree (either higher or lower)
than what I expected and also "なかなか" sounds more or less equal to what I
expected.

When the amount or value compared with what you expected is high, you should
use "とても" but when the amount or value almost equals or is a little more or
less than what you expected, you should use "なかなか".

I think like this. This explanation is based on my life in Japan for more than
35 years.




As a native Japanese speaker I think it's weird "とても" and "なかなか" seem to be
the same in English.

That's because "とても" suggestion a different degree (either higher or lower)
than what I expected and also "なかなか" sounds more or less equal to what I
expected.

When the amount or value compared with what you expected is high, you should
use "とても" but when the amount or value almost equals or is a little more or
less than what you expected, you should use "なかなか".

I think like this. This explanation is based on my life in Japan for more than
35 years.

