Talk:very

"Very" used in the negative

I think the following is not covered in the definitions given:

"I am not very tall" does not mean "I am not excessively tall" -- rather it means "I am relatively short". Duoduoduo 17:41, 13 October 2011 (UTC)

I think that's just adverb sense 1 combined with litotes. 86.167.147.9 19:25, 2 January 2012 (UTC)

"Very" used as an adjective

I have never heard very used as an adjective except in the phrase "very best", in which it means "as best as possible", not as "true, real, actual". Is this a dialectical usage of very, or a potential obsolete usage?

"Very best" is the adverb, I think: "verily (truly) the best". Equinox ◑ 17:28, 10 October 2014 (UTC)

Yet “very best” is used as an example for “very” as an adjective (sense 1). Can “very” in “very best” sometimes be an adjective, or is the example in the wrong category? --Anareth (talk) 11:39, 19 May 2016 (UTC)

It's basically obsolete. Consider the Christmas carol Good King Wenceslas: "In his master's steps he trod / Where the snow lay dinted. / Heat was in the very sod / Which the Saint had printed." Equinox ◑ 11:57, 19 May 2016 (UTC)

I think our example is okay because he tried his "very best" (Adj + Noun): his real, true best. However, in "his very best attempt", it would be an adverb. Equinox ◑ 11:58, 19 May 2016 (UTC)

I’m very much afraid that your son may be involved

A usage note would enhance this entry, yet I do not understand what the author highlights here

Very is used with adjectives, past participles used as adjectives, and adverbs, but notice this use: 
I’m very much afraid that your son may be involved in the crime.
https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/very_1?q=very++

--Backinstadiums (talk) 21:20, 25 October 2020 (UTC)

Are you busy? -Not very.

What PoS is used here? --Backinstadiums (talk) 08:44, 19 April 2021 (UTC)

Adverb #1. Equinox ◑ 08:52, 19 April 2021 (UTC)

very many

Similarly, we have very much, a great many, etc. --Backinstadiums (talk) 16:58, 29 August 2021 (UTC)

not very = not at all

I'm not very (= not at all) impressed. --Backinstadiums (talk) 17:16, 29 August 2021 (UTC)

Participles

Some speakers accept phrases such as very appreciated/astonished/heartened, while others prefer very much. Some participles can be treated as adjectives in one sense but not another, as in a very inflated reputation but not a very inflated tire. When in doubt, using very much is generally correct. https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=very --Backinstadiums (talk) 17:35, 29 August 2021 (UTC)

Past participles that have become established as adjectives can, like most English adjectives, be modified by the adverb very. However, there is rarely any objection to the use of an intervening adverb, no matter how the past participle is functioning. Such use often occurs in edited writing: We were very much relieved to find the children asleep. They were very greatly excited by the news. I feel very badly cheated. --Backinstadiums (talk) 17:38, 29 August 2021 (UTC)

"the very same" (= identical)

Is this not covered? "Very" here seems to be an adverb; we have an adjective sense meaning "identical", but nothing under the adverb heading that quite fits. Equinox ◑ 04:52, 11 August 2023 (UTC)