Use of Much with Adjectives

Usages of adverbial 'Much'

1. 'Much' as a verb modifier.

[1] 'Much' as a verb modifier is commonly used in negations and questions.

• I don't like the picture much = I don't much like the picture.
• Do you see him much [=often]?

[2] Verbs in normal predications are usually modified by 'very much'

• I like the picture very much.
• I see him very much.

[3] Some verbs can be modified by 'much' alone in normal predications. Examples of such verbs are :'prefer', 'admire', 'appreciate', 'regret', and 'surpass'. When 'much' is used for these verbs, 'much' comes before the verb.

• I much prefer an older model.

2. 'Much' as a past participle modifier.

[1] Basically past participles are modified by 'much' or 'very much'.

• This is a much discussed problem.
• We have been much helped by the teacher.
• We have been helped very much by the teacher.

[2] Certain past participles expressing a state of mind are commonly modified by 'very' when used in affirmative sentences. Most of the past participles belonging to this category are those expressing an emotional state of the state (such as 'amused', 'amazed', 'annoyed', 'confused', 'disturbed', 'interested', 'disappointed', 'excited', 'flattered', 'pleased', 'surprised', 'upset', 'worried', etc.) 'Changed' and 'damaged' also could be included in this category. Among them, past participles that are still retaining verbal aspects are modified rather by 'much' or 'very much' in negative and interrogative sentences.

• I am very interested in what he told yesterday.
• I am not very interested in what he told yesterday.
• Are you very interested in what he told yesterday?
• I was very pleased by what I saw.
• I was not much pleased by what I saw.
• Were you much pleased by what you saw?

[3] Past participles that express the agent's feeling toward the subject (such as 'admired', 'adored', 'appreciated', 'enjoyed', 'hated', 'liked', 'loved', etc.) are commonly modified by 'much' or 'very much' even in affirmative sentences.

• Your kindness is very much appreciated (by me).

3. 'Much' as an adjective/adverb modifier.

[1] Much can be used as a modifier of comparative adjectives/adverbs and superlative adjectives.

• It is much [=far, even, still] better.
• She works very much more rapidly than other people.
• It is much the best I have seen.

[2] Some adjectives that contains a comparative sense are modified by 'much' or 'very much' rather than very.

• Your car is (very) much superior to mine.
• His idea is (very) much preferable to mine.
• The result was (very) much different from what I had expected.

[3] Some of the adjectives that begin with 'a' can be modified both by 'very much' and 'very'.

• We were very much / very afraid of her safety.
• The twin sisters look very much / very alike each other.
• I am very much / very ashamed of betraying her.
• My dog is very much / very alert to every sound.

[4] 'Very much' and 'much' can modify adjectival prepositional phrases

• I am very much at home in this area.
• We were much in need of new ideas.
• =We were very needful of new ideas.
• =New ideas are much needed.=We need new ideas very much.

4. 'Much' in the sense of 'nearly'

• They are much the same.
• His opinion is much like mine.

Anonymous wrote:

The latter two use of 'much', I'm afraid, don't modify a past participle, they modify verbs ... no?

Hello Roro

I guess you are this 'anonymous' poster (I am sorry if I am wrong). Frankly speaking, I can't what your question means. Do you mean 'much' or 'very much' modifies not 'helped' but 'have been'? If it is so, I can't agree.

paco

[PS] My E-J dictionary also says the things as below:

(1) When the verb can connote a gradable extent, 'very much' can take two positions.

• We very much doubt [enjoy, hope, fear, dislike, want] it.
• We doubt [enjoy, hope, fear, dislike, want] it very much.

(2) When the verb cannot connote any gradable extent, 'very much' is used only in negative statements. In the assertive statements for such verbs, 'a lot' is commonly used as the intensifier.

• I don't drive very much.
• I drive a lot.

The usage of very and much is too much complicated to me.

Hello Roro

Haven't you deleted a part of your post? As far as I remember, you stated there something like that "very much" seems always to be a modifier for stative verbs. I agree to it. The verbs modified by "very much" in assertive sentences are transitive verbs expressing human emotions. "I enjoy it very much", "I fear it very much", "I dislike it very much", "I hate it very much", etc. On the other hand, most of the verbs modified by "a lot" are habitual verbs. "I drive a lot", "I read a lot". "She learned a lot", "She laughed a lot", etc. I don't know why it is so.

Another thing I have been curious about is why some languages use different words for verb and adjective intensifiers while others use the same.

Group-1 : verbal intensifier<> adjectival intensifier

• (English) I love you very much. She was very pretty.
• (French) Je t'aime beaucoup. Elle etait si jolie.
• (Spanish) [Yo] te amo mucho. Ella eres muy bonita.
• (Japanese) Boku-wa kimi-o ooini aisu. Kanojo-wa totemo kawaik atta.

Group-2 : verbal intensifier = adjectival intensifier

• (German) Ich liebe dich sehr. Sie war sehr schön.
• (Swedish) Jag älskar dej mycket. Hon var mycket vacker.
• (Russian) [Ya] tebe ochen lyublyu. Ona byla ochen krasivaya.

Which one sounds more natural to you?