Quote:
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Originally Posted by M56 From the British National Corpus.
All this is very necessary preparation for the major exercises planned for later.
Good communication skills, courtesy and commitment were extremely necessary for the job.
I wonder whether all these panic measures are entirely necessary.
Acceptance of things is so necessary, it leaves one free. |
I would say the adverbs here have various functions, none of which are quantifiable in literal terms. To my ears, they express:
1. emphasis
2. earnestness
3. irony
4. faintly plaintive buttonholing
If we excise the adverb in each case, we're left with a drier statement.
The original construction seems to me to be a different case: there, we are dealing with the relationship of two qualities, rather than the degree of one.
Does your nickname have an astronomical connection, M56? (If it's not impolite to ask.)
MrP