much / very /too

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1
  1. I’m much tired.
  2. I’m very tired.
  3. I’m much too tired.
  4. That coat is too big for her.
  5. That coat is much too big for her.
  6. He is too much strong.
  7. He is very much strong.
  8. She is too much intelligent.
  9. She is very much intelligent.
    Please correct and comment.
    Thanks.
2
  1. I’m too tired.
  2. I’m very tired.
  3. I’m much too tired.
  4. That coat is too big for her.
  5. That coat is much too big for her.
  6. He is too strong.
  7. He is very strong.
  8. She is too intelligent.
  9. She is very intelligent.
    Note: Usually, ‘much’ goes smoothly with ‘nouns’ as in ‘We had too much rain in Chennai recently’/‘The boy in the next room plays the drum and makes too much noise’.
    (Use ‘too’/‘much too’/‘so’/‘very’ with adjectives)
3

Anglophile,
7. He is very much strong.
I accept ‘He is very strong.’ is correct.
What about ‘He is very much strong.’?
Is it not correct?
‘too much’ will not go with an adjective or adverb as per the ruling of James, USA.
Please comment.Thanks.

4

But you may come across informal spoken contexts like this:
A> He is really strong.
B> Very much! (It is just for emphatic agreement, but, to my knowledge, it is not standard)

YES, he is right.

5

Anglophile,

  1. I’m very much alone.
  2. They were very much shocked by the news.
    Our Madam Beee says the above are correct.
    What do you say about them?
    ‘alone’ is also an adjective like ‘strong’.
  3. He is very much strong.
  4. I’m very much alone.
    How can I believe both are correct?
    Please comment and clarify my misunderstanding.
    Thanks.
6

He is very much strong
is not correct.

7

Beeesneees,

  1. I’m very much alone(adj)
  2. They were very much shocked(adj) by the news.
  3. He is very much strong(adj).
    When you say #3 is wrong, then I am in confusion with #1 and #2.
    What is the nuance of the grammar claiming #1 and #2 are correct?
    Please enlighten me.
    Thanks.
8

Yes, ‘strong’ is an adjective, with which you cannot use ‘very much’. But ‘alone’ is a ‘predicative adjective’, with which you may use ‘very much’. I think you can use ‘very much’ with passive perfective participle as well, as in ‘I’m shocked very much’, ‘He was thanked/helped very much’ etc.

9

Hi Anglophile

What’s predicative adjective exactly? a site says: A predicate adjective is an adjective that follows a linking verb and modifies (i.e., refers back to) the subject of the linking verb. Ex: the shoes look expensive. (expensive is predicate adjective).
but “strong” also can pass the test of predicate adjective in the sentence above, I think. Why it cannot go with “much” ?

10

Anglophile,

  1. I’m very bored(attributive adjective).
  2. The show was very much boring(adj). (predicative-adjective)
  3. I am very much happy. (predicative-adjective)
  4. We were very much concerned(passive perfective participle) for your safety.
  5. We were very much relieved to find the children asleep.
  6. They were very much excited by the news.
  7. Very much baked beans are not tasty. (active perfective participle)
    Please correct and comment.
    Thanks.
11
  1. I’m very bored(attributive adjective).
  2. The show was very much boring(adj). (predicative-adjective)
  3. I am very much happy. (predicative-adjective)
  4. We were very much concerned(passive perfective participle) for your safety.
  5. We were very much relieved to find the children asleep.
  6. They were very much excited by the news.
  7. Baked beans are not very tasty. (active perfective participle)
12

Yes, I agree.

I don’t think I can say anything ‘authentic’ about it. Perhaps a learned native specialist in grammar can. Let’s wait for their comments. Meanwhile I’ll also try with ‘A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language’ by Randolph Quirk, Sydney Greenbaum eta.

13
  1. They were excited very much by the news. (This can be acceptable)
  2. Very much baked beans are not tasty. (Excessively baked beans are not tasty)

I haven’t heard of this terminology. The other name is ‘active progressive participle’.

(The so-called, much-debated, present participle and the past participle are referred to as the ‘Active Progressive Participle’ and the ‘Passive Perfective Participle’ respectively by modern grammarians; e.g. writing, speaking etc > APP and written, spoken etc > PPP)

14

  1. They were excited very much by the news. (This can be acceptable)
    Not in the Western world.
    “They were very much excited by the news.”

  2. Very much baked beans are not tasty. (Excessively baked beans are not tasty)

Neither version makes any sense.
Possibly you are trying to convey the meaning:
Generally baked beans are not tasty.
or
Usually baked beans are not tasty.

15

Please note that the world does not end with the West; there exist East, North and South.

(It does convey the meaning intended by the poster though the style/usage may be different)

As regards ‘baking’, really, I’m no good at it. Sorry.

16

Please note that we are speaking about the English language, which has its origins in Western civilisation, and where you will find English as the mother tongue.
As far as I am concerned, this forum is first and foremost about standard English.
Going on about how things are acceptable in India does not help someone from any other country in the world, and most of the time merely seems like an excuse for your own errors.

I’m not sure about the purpose of the further quotes so I shall gloss over them.

17

Frankly, it is not standard English, it is a blend of the English which is more informal and less formal. Non-western users, particularly the Asians, are often at a loss to decide whether to accept the inconsistent and funny changes or to follow the practice recognized and accepted in their own education system. India is no exception.

Most of what you may find as unacceptable is either already formal and standard, or has come to stay where it is used, as far as I have personally understood it. It is perhaps due to this fact that you call the varieties BrE, AmE, InE and the like. It is time we accepted/tolerated all of them as long as they are able to convey our thoughts unambiguously wherever/whenever they are used. The variants should not be termed as errors just because they look so to you. English will continue to evolve at the global hands with new usages and coinages suitable and expedient for the locale concerned. We cannot, therefore, declare a particular variety as being the only acceptable and impose it on others. Let each variety co-exist with the others so long as there is no difficulty for the users to comprehend one another.

18

Since “We are very much concerned for your safety.” is OK,
What about “I’m very much tired.”?
2.
I am very much afraid(adj) that your son may be involved in the crime.
Since ‘afraid’ is a predicative adjective, this sentence is correct.
Am I correct?
3.
i. The climate is much hotter today.
ii. The climate is very much hotter today.
iii. The climate is too hot today.
iv. The climate is too hotter today.
Please correct and comment.
Thanks.

19

  1. no. “I’m very tired.”

  2. That is possible.

3
i. The temperature is much hotter today.
ii. The temperature is very much hotter today.
iii. It is too hot today.
iv. It is hotter today.

‘Climate’ is the pattern of weather conditions over a long period of time.

20

Waiyin Cheng, I’m a bit late. Sorry.

When I consulted the book, I was able to see this pair of sentences (see the picture below; vide page 415, 7.16 - Note), standing to my advantage:
He was very much loved (by her). (She very much loved him)
He was loved very much (by her). (She loved him very much).

It is in the West and it confirms my view:

They were very much excited by the news (The news very much excited them)
They were excited very much by the news, (The news excited them very much)

Now, since I could not locate the applications of ‘predicative adjective’, I can guess and find a short-cut method from my experience and information as well as my inference from the discussion to check whether the sentence can admit of ‘much/very much’ or not.
Look at the examples below for the admissibility of ‘much/very much’:

He is strong. (much/very much – not possible here) <> He is a srong man.
He is alone. (much/very much – possible here) <> He is an alone man.
He is weak. (much/very much – not possible here) <> He is a weak man.
He is fine. (much/very much – possible here) <> He is a fine man.
He is sleepy. (much/very much – not possible here) <> He is a sleepy man.
He is asleep (much/very much –possible here) <> He is an asleep man.