In the English language the word
very functions as an adverb that is used to strengthen adjectives. Like for instance if you are the prettiest person I have ever met ,I will say that you are very pretty .Now ,
very is an important word .After all ,in a world where only the strong survive ,we would want our adjectives to be all strong ,isn’t it ?
But using
very, too much can weaken the impact of our communication, especially in writing, rather than making our adjectives stronger. For example, let’s have a look at this:
Holla Readers!
It’s a very beautiful day today, the birds are chirping
very gaily and the sun’s
very bright and today we are going to learn some
very interesting things in a
very fun way which are going to be
very helpful for you while writing and speaking.
You see, what happened there? I wanted to lay emphasis on how beautiful the day is but the use of
very before every adjective not only made the sentences longer than they needed to be but also made the greeting almost sound annoying.
So today we are going to learn some ways in which we can avoid using very and instead, use better words. But, before that, let’s brush up our understanding of adjectives.
What are adjectives?
- Adjectives are describing words.
Like, for instance if you make friends easily, I will say that you are friendly.
Or if you eat momos and they make smoke come out of your ears, I will ask you, are the momos spicy?
Here, both
spicy and
friendly are adjectives .The word spicy is used to describe the taste and the word friendly is used to describe your nature or an attribute of personality.
- Adjectives are also used to modify nouns
Eg: I went in the yellow cab .Here the word
yellow is an adjective used to modify the noun
cab.
Now that we have brushed our basics of adjectives, lets look at some words that can be used in place of
very.
Avoid saying very afraid rather say
terrified.
I am terrified of cockroaches.
Similarly, let’s learn a few words todays:
- Very Angry- Furious
My mother was furious with me when I reached home late.
- Very Beautiful-Exquisite
The painting in the exhibition was exquisite
- Very Clean –Spotless
The room was spotless
- Very Cold –Freezing
Its freezing outside.
- Very Hungry –Ravenous
Let’s go get some food, I am ravenous.
- Very Happy-Jubilant
I got the first rank in class. I am jubilant today!
- Very Good-Superb
Let’s go to that restaurant, the food is superb there
- Very Dry- Parched
Give me some water, my throat is parched!
- Very Small –Tiny
I have a key ring, it has a tiny minion on it .
- Very Old–Ancient
The sculpting on the Khajuraho caves is ancient.
- Very Poor-Destitute
How will he afford these expensive medicines, he is destitute.
So, today we learnt how to avoid the word very. Avoiding very and using better words will not only make our communication more impactful but will also help us economize on our words.
Happy learning!
Ayushi Maheshwari
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