maoyueh
Member
- Joined
- May 28, 2011
- Member Type
- Retired English Teacher
- Native Language
- Chinese
- Home Country
- Taiwan
- Current Location
- Taiwan
According to my observation, the traditional general rule is that we use "very much" or "much" instead of "very" before predicative adjectives beginning with a- such as alike, alive, afraid, ashamed, alone, awake, and asleep. However, nowadays it seems pretty common to say very alike, very afraid, very ashamed, but wide awake, and sound asleep. Language is quite arbitrary, isn't it? Please consult "Oxford Collocations Dictionary for students of English," Oxford University Press, 2009. Sincerely, Maoyueh