The adverb ‘very’ can be used to modify common gradable adjectives. Gradable adjectives are adjectives that can be intensified or moderated and have different degrees. For example, the adjective ‘happy’ is gradable because you can be a little happy, quite happy, or very happy.
When ‘very’ is used before a gradable adjective, it intensifies the meaning of the adjective. Here are some examples:
- Very cold: The word ‘cold’ is a gradable adjective because something can be a bit cold, quite cold, or extremely cold. When we say it’s ‘very cold’, we mean it’s extremely cold.
- Very tall: The word ‘tall’ is a gradable adjective because someone can be a little tall, quite tall, or extremely tall. When we say someone is ‘very tall’, we mean they are extremely tall.
- Very happy: The word ‘happy’ is a gradable adjective because someone can be a little happy, quite happy, or extremely happy. When we say someone is ‘very happy’, we mean they are extremely happy.
So, the adverb ‘very’ is used to emphasize the degree of the adjective and express that something has a high degree of a certain quality.
An iWeb search for:
very _JJ .
1 VERY GOOD.
54946
He looks very good.
PELIC STUDENT: Korean male level 3 writing class.
2 VERY IMPORTANT. 36690
3 VERY HELPFUL. 32475
4 VERY NICE. 21400
5 VERY DIFFERENT. 19176
6 VERY INTERESTING. 18698
7 VERY SIMPLE. 15550
8 VERY USEFUL. 15193
9 VERY EASY. 14918
10 VERY DIFFICULT. 14601
11 VERY HAPPY. 14038
12 VERY HIGH. 12947
13 VERY EXPENSIVE. 12359
14 VERY COMFORTABLE. 12137
15 VERY LOW. 10980
16 VERY SIMILAR. 10771
17 VERY EFFECTIVE. 10005
18 VERY SMALL. 9857
19 VERY STRONG. 9105
20 VERY COOL. 8280
21 VERY POPULAR. 8059
22 VERY PLEASED. 7237
23 VERY FRIENDLY. 7097
24 VERY CLOSE. 7058
25 VERY CLEAR. 6832
26 VERY IMPRESSIVE. 6737
27 VERY LIMITED. 6612
28 VERY RARE. 6611
29 VERY COMMON. 6394
30 VERY PROFESSIONAL. 6204
31 VERY INFORMATIVE. 5966
32 VERY POWERFUL. 5872
33 VERY CLEAN. 5850
34 VERY IMPRESSED. 5684
35 VERY DANGEROUS. 5623
36 VERY EXCITING. 5596
37 VERY SPECIAL. 5499
38 VERY TRUE. 5336
39 VERY FRUSTRATING. 5046
40 VERY REAL. 5028
41 VERY SUCCESSFUL. 4962
42 VERY SAD. 4902
43 VERY BAD. 4701
44 VERY YOUNG. 4634
45 VERY LARGE. 4530
46 VERY WELCOME. 4457
47 VERY POSITIVE. 4343
48 VERY DISAPPOINTED. 4250
49 VERY SLOW. 4224
50 VERY SMOOTH. 4051
51 VERY REWARDING. 3980
52 VERY POOR. 3978
53 VERY QUIET. 3828
54 VERY ACCURATE. 3821
55 VERY ATTRACTIVE. 3796
56 VERY WRONG. 3781
57 VERY DURABLE. 3724
58 VERY REASONABLE. 3672
59 VERY BUSY. 3660
60 VERY HOT. 3634
61 VERY HANDY. 3626
62 VERY AFFORDABLE. 3599
63 VERY EFFICIENT. 3592
64 VERY CONVENIENT. 3582
65 VERY EXCITED. 3559
66 VERY FUNNY. 3549
67 VERY STRANGE. 3505
68 VERY HARD. 3453
69 VERY SATISFIED. 3444
70 VERY PRETTY. 3266
71 VERY SERIOUS. 3232
72 VERY BEAUTIFUL. 3212
73 VERY COMPETITIVE. 3181
74 VERY PAINFUL. 3128
75 VERY UNCOMFORTABLE. 3122
76 VERY GRATEFUL. 3095
77 VERY ANNOYING. 3079
78 VERY DISAPPOINTING. 3068
79 VERY RELIABLE. 3040
80 VERY SHORT. 3023
81 VERY CAREFUL. 2877
82 VERY FAST. 2874
83 VERY CHEAP. 2869
84 VERY ENJOYABLE. 2846
85 VERY CHALLENGING. 2830
86 VERY VALUABLE. 2827
87 VERY PLEASANT. 2817
88 VERY QUICK. 2782
89 VERY CONFUSING. 2688
90 VERY TASTY. 2672
91 VERY LUCKY. 2669
92 VERY VERSATILE. 2646
93 VERY ACTIVE. 2570
94 VERY APPEALING. 2566
95 VERY COLD. 2512
96 VERY THIN. 2511
97 VERY SMART. 2446
98 VERY FLEXIBLE. 2423
99 VERY SAFE. 2417
100 VERY LIGHT. 2381
Here’s how the corpus data can be grouped into topics:
Emotions/Feelings
- Very Happy: 14038
- Very Pleased: 7237
- Very Excited: 3559
- Very Sad: 4902
- …
Size
- Very High: 12947
- Very Small: 9857
- Very Large: 4530
- Very Short: 3023
- …
Quality
- Very Useful: 15193
- Very Effective: 10005
- Very Strong: 9105
- Very Durable: 3724
- …
Price
- Very Expensive: 12359
- Very Affordable: 3599
- Very Cheap: 2869
- …
Speed
- Very Slow: 4224
- Very Fast: 2874
- …
Temperature
- Very Hot: 3634
- Very Cold: 2512