very
part of speech
adverb (very); adjective (very)
meaning for a pupil
1) Very makes a word stronger. Very big means more than just big. tree →
2) As an adjective, very means exactly or just this one: the very same book, at the very top. tree →
3) Not very means only a little: not very cold. tree →
sense in the lessons
In maths: a story word that makes a describing word stronger; it gives no number and no operation; «the very first» means the first of all. In writing: try a stronger word instead of «very» (huge for very big, tiny for very small). Phrases: very much, very well, the very first, the very end, at the very least, very good.
examples
- It was a very hot day. tree →
- The very first step is to count. tree →
- She was very happy with 10 stickers. tree →
- A very long rope is 40 m. tree →
- Thank you very much! tree →
- I live at the very end of the street. tree →
- The film was not very scary. tree →
- That is the very book I was looking for. tree →
- It is very important to wear a seatbelt. tree →
- “It is a very stupid story! tree →
note
Use «very» before adjectives and adverbs (very fast), not before verbs: say «I like it very much», not «I very like it». Carries no clue to the operation.
In the corpora
- Many people are paid early in December, before Christmas, so January feels very long with the money already spent.
- A final demand is a warning that a bill is very overdue and stronger action will follow, so acting early is easier.
- A mortgage is a very big bank loan to buy a house, paid back monthly for 25 years or more with interest.
- Moving means packing everything, doing paperwork and saying goodbye all at once, so it is very stressful.
- "Your room looks like a bomb's hit it" is an exaggeration meaning the room is very messy.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «very» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.