very
1 adv Very is used to give emphasis to an adjective or adverb.
ADV adj/adv (emphasis)
The problem and the answer are very simple..., It is very, very strong evidence indeed..., I'm very sorry..., They are getting the hang of it very quickly..., Thank you very much..., The men were very much like my father.
2 Not very is used with an adjective or adverb to say that something is not at all true, or that it is true only to a small degree.
not very phrase usu PHR adj/adv
She's not very impressed with them..., It's obviously not used very much..., `How well do you know her?'—`Not very.'
3 adv You use very to give emphasis to a superlative adjective or adverb. For example, if you say that something is the very best, you are emphasizing that it is the best.
ADV superl (emphasis)
They will be helped by the very latest in navigation aids..., At the very least, the Government must offer some protection to mothers who fear domestic violence.
4 adj You use very with certain nouns in order to specify an extreme position or extreme point in time.
ADJ n (emphasis)
At the very back of the yard, several feet from Lenny, was a wooden shack..., I turned to the very end of the book, to read the final words..., He was wrong from the very beginning..., We still do not have enough women at the very top.
5 adj You use very with nouns to emphasize that something is exactly the right one or exactly the same one.
ADJ n (emphasis)
Everybody says he is the very man for the case..., She died in this very house...
6 adj You use very with nouns to emphasize the importance or seriousness of what you are saying.
ADJ n (emphasis)
At one stage his very life was in danger..., The very basis of Indian politics has been transformed..., History is taking place before your very eyes.
7 The expression very much so is an emphatic way of answering `yes' to something or saying that it is true or correct.
very much so phrase PHR as reply, cl PHR (emphasis)
`Are you enjoying your holiday?'—`Very much so.'
8 Very well is used to say that you agree to do something or you accept someone's answer, even though you might not be completely satisfied with it.
very well convention
(formulae)
(=all right)
`We need proof, sir.' Another pause. Then, `Very well.'..., Very well, please yourself.
9 If you say that you cannot very well do something, you mean that it would not be right or possible to do it.
cannot very well do phrase V inflects, PHR inf
He couldn't very well go to her office and force her to write a check..., I said yes. I can't very well say no.
