| 词组 | very |
| 释义 | very 1. "Very" and the past participle. Fitzedward Hall 1873 cited a Professor Maximilian Muller as asserting that expressions like "very pleased" and "very delighted" were Americanisms. Hall refuted the assertion, quoting "very concerned" from 1760 and other similar 18th- and 19th-century examples, all British. Hall's comments are the earliest that we know of in which interest is expressed in the combination of very with an adjective formed from a past participle. By the time of Vizetelly 1906, the question had become one of propriety; making exception for those participles established as adjectives, he found that "it is now thought more grammatical to interpose an adverb between the participle" and very. Similar advice has since appeared in many usage books. The adverb most often recommended was and is much. The reasoning involved in this issue is easy enough to follow. Very by itself does not modify verbs, and therefore it cannot modify the past participle of a verb. The crux of the matter, then, is whether the past participle is simply a participle or whether it is an adjective. On this point many commentators are uncertain. Fowler 1926 sets down four criteria for determining whether very can be used before a given participle. The first is the consideration of whether the participle has become an established adjective, a judgment which would seem to be highly subjective. The other three criteria are supposed to help in cases where the participle is not an established adjective. If the participle is being used attributively rather than predicatively ("a very worried expression" rather than "he was very worried"), it is functioning as an adjective and can be modified by very. If the noun or pronoun modified by the participle names "the person or thing on which the verbal action is exercised" rather than some aspect or feature of that person or thing ("he was very worried" rather than "his expression was very worried"), then the participle is functioning as a verb and requires much. And finally, if the "verbal character" of the participle is "betrayed" by a preposition such as by ("very worried by what he had heard"), much is again required. So says Fowler. Where Fowler's ratiocination goes astray becomes evident when we consider the distinguishing criteria for adjectives given in Quirk et al. 1985. Quirk identifies four criteria for adjectives: attributive use, predicative use after the verb seem, premodification by very, and comparison. Quirk knows that not every adjective meets all four criteria, but some combination of* them will usually serve to distinguish an adjective from an adverb or a participle. The problem for the critics, then, is that they are trying to pass judgment on the propriety of what is, in fact, a distinguishing characteristic of the adjective as opposed to the participle—premodification by very. Copperud 1970, 1980, Evans 1957, and Flesch 1964, who would allow very wherever it does not offend the ear, are on the right track. And time has made Fowler wrong: his examples of very annoyed and very concerned do not illustrate misuses of very but are in fact evidence that annoyed and concerned are moving or have moved into adjective function. The movement of past participles into adjective function—based on evidence of premodification by very— began in the 17th century; the OED has examples from 1641 on. It is a continuing process. The annoyed and concerned that, when used with very, bothered Fowler sound unexceptionable today. Participles that sound awkward with very today may sound fine in another generation. You can see for yourself how well established Fowler's offending annoyed is as an adjective by testing it in sample sentences by Quirk's criteria. Attributive use: • She gave me an annoyed look. Predicative use with seem: She seems rather annoyed by the delay. Premodification by very: Rather annoyed? I'd say she's very annoyed. Comparison: • She's growing more annoyed by the minute. You can try similar test sentences for doubtful participles if you like—it can even be fun sometimes—but for practical purposes you are going to have to trust your ear. Two other points are worth bearing in mind. First, a prepositional phrase with by marking an agent can be an indicator of verbal force: • She was annoyed by the panhandler. When this agent is animate, it is a good indicator that the participle is still a participle, and you would not use very as a modifier. But if the agent is not animate, the participle may be an adjective: • She was very annoyed by your behavior. Second, many participial adjectives do not take very and do not compare because their meaning is such that they are not what Quirk calls "gradable": they are seldom used in senses that admit of degrees. We have seen that annoyed admits of degrees; but such participles as deceased, defeated, and performed do not. Occasionally, however, participles that are seldom used in a gradable way can be used with very as a stylistic device: • ... other very famous, very rich, and/or very titled people who live here —Lawrence B. Eisenberg, Cosmopolitan, February 1978 • She offered me a chair in her green-and-white, very decorated office —Sally Quinn, We're Going to Make You a Star, 1975 Very much can be similarly used: • The girl in the center was still very much undressed and screamed when she saw the MPs —Walter Peters, in The Best from Yank, 1945 Premodification by very is an "explicit indication" (Quirk) that a participle has achieved adjective status. If very sounds all right before a participle to you, that participle is an adjective for your purposes. But since the participle-into-adjective process is still going on, you will have to accept the fact that what is a participial adjective to you may only be a participle to someone else, and vice versa. We leave you with a few typical examples: • She seemed very attached to her husband —Josephine W. Johnson, Virginia Quarterly Rev., Spring 1939 • Authors are not very interested in this problem —C. H. Rolph, Times Literary Supp., 9 Mar. 1967 • Now, I won't be satisfied, in fact I'll be very dissatisfied, if you are not one of the sponsors —Robert Frost, letter, 20 Jan. 1947 • I am very pleased to know that I can get a quart of mouse milk for under ten dollars —E. B. White, letter, 10 Nov. 1966 2. From the numerous warnings in usage books against overuse or even any use of very in writing, you might think that no writer of reputation would actually use "this colorless, exhausted word" (McMahan & Day 1980) as an intensifier. But, of course, many writers do: • The Philosopher was very hungry, and he looked about on all sides to see if there was anything he might eat —James Stephens, The Crock of Gold, 1912 • David had worked very hard for four days —Ernest Hemingway, "An African Betrayal," in Sports Illustrated, 5 May 1986 • The hero is a computer expert with a very pregnant wife —Newgate Callendar, N.Y. Times Book Rev., 18 Dec. 1983 • It's going to be very interesting, you think, to look at these many objects from olden days —Garrison Keillor, Lake Wobegon Days, 1985 • ... very representative of Washington this winter. It is a seething turmoil of glumness —Russell Baker, N.Y. Times Mag., 15 Feb. 1976 The important thing is to consider carefully how you use the intensifier. It is even possible to achieve emphasis by using a string of verys, as in this example: • It was a day of very white clouds, and very blue skies, and very dark green spruces —E. B. White, letter, 27 June 1922 But you are more likely to make effective use of the word if you use it—or any intensifier—sparingly in your writing. Use it where it will count the most. |
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