very */*/*/

UK [ˈverɪ] / US adjective, adverb

Summary:

Very can be used in the following ways: - as an adverb (before adjectives and adverbs): It had been a long day and he was very tired. ♦ I always walk very quickly. ♦ She writes very well. - as an adjective (only before a noun): They went down to the very bottom of the sea. ♦ The car exploded before my very eyes.

1)

a) used for emphasizing that a quality exists or is true to a great degree

It was a very good film.

The building looks very old.

I think he's very handsome, don't you?

That's very kind of you, Susan.

I took my music lessons very seriously.

The whole team has been playing very well lately.

very many/much (= a lot):

I don't think she has very many friends.

Thank you very much.

very few/little (= a small number/amount):

Very few people came to the wedding.

b) used for emphasizing that something is the best, worst, biggest, smallest, first, last etc

They were badly fed, badly clothed, and lived in the very worst conditions.

The website has the very latest music news.

We want to make sure that we choose the very best design.

At the very least, Higgins should have to pay a fine for what he's done.

2) used for emphasizing that someone or something is the best or most suitable

You might be the very person we are looking for for this job.

How did you know this was the very thing I wanted?

a) used for emphasizing that someone or something is exactly the one that you are mentioning and not another one

The very attributes that some people have criticized are the ones that make him most successful.

this very moment/minute/instant (= now):

He's probably lying on some beach in Italy at this very moment.

b) used for emphasizing how important or serious something is

Charles realized that his throne and his very life were in danger, and he decided to act.

The chemicals had poisoned his land and destroyed the very basis of his livelihood.

c) used for emphasizing an extreme place or time, for example at the top or end of something

She smoked her cigarette down to the very end, then stubbed it out.

Can you see that little bird right up at the very top of the tree?

Nick was sitting at the very back of the bus.

We worked till the very end of the day.

d) formal used for emphasizing that something that seems simple or basic can still have an important effect

Quite often the very act of measuring something changes what you are trying to measure.

the very thought of:

Sometimes the very thought of the world outside these walls makes me nervous.

•

- be all very well

- cannot very well do something

- not very

- the very idea

- very much so

- someone's very own

- very well