The adverbs very, really, truly, absolutely and how to use them

—   Hello, boys and girls! My name is Martin.

—   And my name is Nathaniel.

—   James is not with us today, because he doesn’t feel well.

—   Welcome to our grammar lesson!

—   Yesterday I went to the barbershop. Before I continue my story, I would like to remind you the meaning of this word.

A barbershop is a place where men and boys get their hair cut.

—   Let’s continue. When I got there, I saw a boy and a barber. The barber was cutting the boy’s hair. When he finished, they started talking.

Listen to their conversation and you’ll find out the topic of our lesson.

—   Oh, Mr. Donovan! You are a very wonderful master.

—   Thank you, Larry. It’s a great pleasure for me to hear that.

—   Now my hair looks very great! Thank you so much!

—   You’re welcome!

—   See you soon, Mr. Donovan.

—   See you, Larry.

When I heard the boy saying: “very wonderful” and “very great”, I decided to come to the boy and talk to him.

—   Hello, Larry.

—   Hello, sir! I’m sorry… Do I know you?

—   No, you don’t. My name is Nathaniel. My friends and I make lessons for different pupils.

—   Really? I haven’t heard about you. But… why did you come to me?

—   Well… I’ve just heard your conversation with the barber. And you made two mistakes in your speech.

—   No way!

—   Unfortunately, it’s true. We cannot say “very wonderful” and “very great”.

—   Why? I always say that.

—   Well… we can’t use the word “very” with the adjectives “wonderful” and “great”! Do you want me to explain the rule to you?

—   Of course, if it’s no bother.

—   No, not at all!

As you can understand, today in the lesson we will:

·        talk about the adverbs “very”, “really”, “truly”, “absolutely”;

·        learn how to use them;

And

·        put the knowledge into practice.

—   First of all, I’ll tell you what the words “very”, “really”, “truly” and “absolutely” have in common.

—   In my opinion, they are all the same.

—   You’re wrong, Larry! Well… they have a lot in common, but they are not exactly the same!

The words “very”, “really”, “truly” and “absolutely” are placed directly in front of adjectives or adverbs. They make the meaning of the adverb or adjective stronger, or more intense. For this reason, these words are called intensifiers.

For example:

Madison did very well on the test.

(The girl didn't simply do well, she did extremely well).

The water in the Atlantic Ocean is really cold.

(The water isn't just cold, it's extremely cold).

—   Now, Larry, I’ll tell you about the difference between the words “very”, “really”, “truly” and “absolutely”.

—   Great, because I can’t wait to hear that!

—   Before we talk about the difference, we need to mention the fact that adjectives in English can be divided into two groups: base and strong.

Base adjectives are normal adjectives that don't have the idea of “very”.

Strong adjectives, however, are extreme adjectives that have the idea of “very”.

Let’s look at some examples of base and strong adjectives.

Beautiful, good, angry, big, cold, hungry – these adjectives are base.

If we add intensifier “very” to all of them, we’ll get: “very beautiful”, “very good”, “very angry”, “very big”, “very cold” and “very hungry”.

The synonyms of these words are the strong adjectives: gorgeous, great, furious, huge, freezing, starving.

From these examples it’s clear that we can add intensifier “very” to base adjectives, but…

Remember! We cannot add “very” to strong adjectives.

It’s not correct to say that something or someone is “very gorgeous”, “very great”, “very furious”, “very huge”, “very freezing”, “very starving”.

With strong adjectives, we normally use intensifiers: “really”, “truly” and “absolutely”.

The words “really” and “truly” are translated as “действительно, по-настоящему, поистине”.

And the word “absolutely” can be translated as “абсолютно, совершенно, чрезвычайно, категорически, безусловно”.

For instance:

The cartoon was absolutely awful.

My aunt Grace was really furious.

Kevin, it’s truly great to see you!

Now look at the table, please.

We’ve already said that we can use the words “really”, “truly” and “absolutely” with strong adjectives. You also need to know that we can use the words “really” and “truly” with base adjectives but remember we don’t use the word “absolutely” with them.

Pay attention! The word “very” can also be an adjective. In this case, we can translate this word as: “те”, “тот самый”, “этот самый”. We also need to put the word “very” in front of nouns.

Look at the following examples:

Nick is probably lying on some beach in Italy at this very moment.

(Ник, возможно, лежит на каком-нибудь пляже в Италии в этот самый момент).

Or

These are the very flowers my mother planted.

(Это те самые цветы, которые посадила моя мама).

—   Well, Larry, did you understand everything?

—   Yes, sir! I understood everything. And I’m shocked and surprised!

—   Really? Why?

—   Oh, I just didn’t hear anything about this rule. Thank you so much! Now, thanks to you, I know when I can use the word “very”.

—   You’re welcome, Larry. But if you don’t mind, I would like to check your knowledge now.

—   Oh, okay!

—   First of all, I would like to know if you understand the difference between base and strong adjectives.

Put the adjectives into the correct groups.

Check yourselves.

Base adjectives are:

Ugly, happy, tired, funny, small, hot, tasty, old, interesting, clever, loud, scary.

Strong adjectives are:

Ancient, boiling, delighted, exhausted, fascinating, terrifying, tiny, hilarious, awful, delicious, brilliant, deafening.

Now choose the correct intensifier for each sentence.

One.

The variants are: absolutely and really.

Let’s check.

Oh, Gabriel, I’m so tired. The exam was really difficult.

Two.

The intensifiers are: absolutely and very.

Check yourselves.

No, Robert, I’m not just hungry! I’m absolutely starving.

Three.

The words are: really and very.

Let’s check.

Oh my God, Jennifer, my trip to the United Arab Emirates was really fantastic!

Four.

The variants are: absolutely and very.

Check yourselves.

Justin, I really like politics! I find it very interesting.

Five.

The intensifiers are: very and truly.

Let’s check.

Ladies and Gentlemen, you are witnesses of this terrible and truly terrifying disaster.

Six.

The words are: absolutely and really.

Check yourselves.

I’m very surprised that your new house is really small. I though that you wanted to buy a big one.

Seven.

The variants are: very and truly.

Let’s check.

Megan was truly delighted when she found out about Mike and Loren’s wedding.

Eight.

The intensifiers are: really and very.

Check yourselves.

The food that we ordered at the restaurant smelled really disgusting.

Nine.

The words are: absolutely and very.

Let’s check.

Katherine, we are just absolutely thrilled to get to know your wonderful kids.

Ten.

The variants are: really and very.

Check yourselves.

Paige, you're funny, kind-hearted, patient and really gorgeous. I adore you!

Eleven.

The intensifiers are: truly and very.

Let’s check.

We found the boy yesterday. He was truly exhausted, but now he’s fine and really happy.

Twelve.

The words are: absolutely and very.

Check yourselves.

Harry, I can't say that it was a very nice place, but the pie was absolutely delicious.

—   Wow, it was so interesting!

—   I’m so happy to hear that, Larry.

—   Now I understand the difference between the intensifiers “very”, “really”, “truly” and “absolutely” and what they have in common.

—   Great! I hope you won’t use the word “very” with strong adjectives in the future.

—   Oh, don’t worry, I won’t do that anymore.

—   I hope so.

—   Thank you very much! The lesson was VERY interesting and REALLY great!!!

—   Ha-ha! You’re welcome!

—   Nathaniel, I also think that you did great!

—   Thank you, Martin.

—   That’s all for today, boys and girls.

—   See you soon.