Hi people!

First of all, let me give you some examples:

Context: After a party, a woman is chatting with a friend about the party she went to the previous day:

"I have met vary many people at the party."

Then, she goes on to tell her friend who is / was it that she met. Her friend knows some of the people she mentions, so he utters:

"Oh, I know very many of them."

At first, I wondered whether this expression, i.e., "very many" was correct. Now I know it is perfectly grammatical and acceptable, and I imagine it acts as an intensifier of the word "many". Is this so? If not, what is its function?

Now, which part of speech is "very" in this case? An adverb? And many? An adjective / a determiner-quantifier?

Another question: Is "a very many" acceptable? I imagine it is not, and IMHO, it sounds awful.

Lastly, why is "of" inserted in the second example? Is it because of "them" following or is it because of the very nature of "very many"? Or simply because when a quantifier is followed by a pronoun we should add "of" as a mere nexus or connective?

Thanks a lot!

Mara.

Hi,

Context: After a party, a woman is chatting with a friend about the party she went to the previous day:

"I have met vary many people at the party." More natural is 'I met a lot of people at the party'. 'Very many' does not work here. 'Many' is mainly used in the negative. 'I didn't meet very many people at the party'. Also in questions. "Did you meet very many people at the party?"

Then, she goes on to tell her friend who is / was it that she met. Her friend knows some of the people she mentions, so he utters:

"Oh, I know very many of them." Same comment as above

At first, I wondered whether this expression, i.e., "very many" was correct. Now I know it is perfectly grammatical and acceptable, No, same comment as above and I imagine it acts as an intensifier of the word "many". Is this so? Yes, see above. If not, what is its function?

Now, which part of speech is "very" in this case? An adverb? Yes And many? Yes An adjective / a determiner-quantifier?

Another question: Is "a very many" acceptable? I imagine it is not, and IMHO, it sounds awful. You're right.

Lastly, why is "of" inserted in the second example? Is it because of "them" following  No or is it because of the very nature of "very many"? It's hard to explain, but yes, I think so. You can say 'I don't know many soldiers' or 'I don't know many of the soldiers'.  Or simply because when a quantifier is followed by a pronoun we should add "of" as a mere nexus or connective?

Clive

Thanks for your answers!

Now, I'm a bit puzzled for I've found in one of Melville's short stories the following sentence:

I mean the law-copyists or scriveners. I have known very many of them, professionally and privately, and if I pleased, could relate divers histories, at which good-natured souls might smile, and sentimental souls might weep.

How come? Is this a literary license or are there any other explanations to it?

Thanks a lot!

Mara.