喜樂美語

核心畫面

Picture a dial you turn up to push a quality past its ordinary level: warm becomes 'very warm', tired becomes 'very tired'. As an , 'very' is the hand on that dial, turning the strength of an adjective or adverb up high. A second, older thread runs underneath: 'very' once meant 'true / real', and that survives when you point at exactly the right thing — 'the very man I wanted'.

可以想成一個把「程度」往上轉的旋鈕：暖轉成「很暖」，累轉成「很累」。當加強語時，very 就是握著那個旋鈕的手，把形…更多收起可以想成一個把「程度」往上轉的旋鈕：暖轉成「很暖」，累轉成「很累」。當加強語時，very 就是握著那個旋鈕的手，把形容詞或副詞的強度往上拉。底下還藏著一條更老的線：very 曾經有「真正的、分毫不差的」意思，這個意思在「the very man I wanted（正是我要找的人）」這類說法裡保留了下來。

原始詞典資料7 筆記錄

以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。

Veryname

  • 1

    A surname, variant of Verey.

veryadv/ˈvɛɹi/

  • 1

    To a great extent or degree.

    • That dress is very you.
    • Not very many (of them) had been damaged.
  • 2

    Conforming to fact, reality or rule; true.

  • 3

    Used to firmly establish that nothing else surpasses in some respect.

    • He was the very best runner there.
    • This is my very own treehouse.

veryadj/ˈvɛɹi/

  • 1

    literaryTrue, real, actual.

    • the fierce hatred of a very woman
    • the very blood and bone of our grammar
  • 2

    The same; identical.

    • He proposed marriage in the same restaurant, at the very table where they first met.
    • That's the very tool that I need.
  • 3

    With limiting effect: mere.

    • The very idea of climbing the ladder brings me out in a sweat.
    • The very idea/thought!

資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。