very wrong

[azz]

a. He was very wrong about the elections.
b, He was very much wrong about the elections.
c. He very much was wrong about the elections.

Are the above sentences grammatically correct?

I am pretty sure (a) is correct.

(b) doesn't sound as bad as
d. He was very much big.

but ought to be wrong according to grammar. 'Wrong' is an adjective and is just like 'big'. But it seems to me that somehow (b) doesn't sound as bad as (d). Would you consider it incorrect?

I'd say that (c) sounds strange, but says something altogether different than (a). To me it seems to be saying that he was indeed wrong. How do you feel about (c)?

 

[Tarheel]

The first one is fine. As for the others, the more I look at them the less I like them.

Let's see what others have to say.

 

[Rover_KE]

I say the same.

 

[Glizdka]

I'd say wrong isn't gradable. Whichever intensifier you put in front of it, whether it be very or much, it sounds wrong.

You're either right or wrong. There's no gray area.

 

[jutfrank]

I think it's okay to use wrong as a gradable adjective, so a. is fine.

I don't like the other two but I think you can just about argue that b. is possible whereas c. is very wrong.

 

[Rover_KE]

I think it's okay to use wrong as a gradable adjective ...

I agree.

To say a tomato is a vegetable is wrong; to say it's a musical instrument is very wrong.

 

[Ostap]

I'd agree that technically "wrong" is non-gradable, but it's widely used as gradable so it's acceptable.
It's like with the adverb "literally" used in a figurative meaning just for emphasis. Technically incorrect, but very common in speech.

 

[Glizdka]

I think it's okay to use wrong as a gradable adjective, so a. is fine.

I don't like the other two but I think you can just about argue that b. is possible whereas c. is very wrong.

Do you mean c is the wrongest?

 

[jutfrank]

Do you mean c is the wrongest?

It certainly ranks the lowest in rightness.

 

[azz]

Thank you all.

I think 'wrong' is gradable. When we deal with measurements we are always dealing with approximate figures. Saying a one-pound pack of sugar weighs a pound is very likely wrong and a very precise scale will show that the weight is slightly lower or higher. But it is correct for all practical purposes. Saying it weighs two pounds is definitely more incorrect than saying it weighs one pound.

"Wrong" is definitely considered gradable in English, because it has comparative and superlative forms.

wrong - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

en.wiktionary.org

 

[Tarheel]

I think you have a point. "Wrong" is gradable to some extent. For example, it is wrong to say I like ice cream better than cake would be wrong. Saying I don't like ice cream at all would be even more wrong.