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Taka Posted 14 years ago
Grammar

Much

Is this usage of '(very) much' OK?

The number of bikes in this city has increased very much.

And does the sentence above mean (almost) the same as this?

The number of bikes in this city has increased dramatically.
  

Top answer

The first sentence is okay from a purely technical grammatical point of view, but it doesn't sound quite right to native ears. , I don't think he likes me very much, etc. So it sounds out of place in anything but these familiar constructions.

— Anonymous

  • The first sentence is okay from a purely technical grammatical point of view, but it doesn't sound quite right to native ears.
  • , I don't think he likes me very much, etc.
  • So it sounds out of place in anything but these familiar constructions.
  • You'd probably say this as: The number of bikes in this city has increased a lot.
  • ) The second sentence, because of the use of the word "dramatically," has a specific meaning: The number of bikes used to be small and has suddenly increased recently.
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4 Answers
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The first sentence is okay from a purely technical grammatical point of view, but it doesn't sound quite right to native ears. The problem is that the phrase "very much" is used frequently in certain set expressions, like: thank you very much, did you have to pay very much for it?, I don't think he likes me very much, etc. So it sounds out of place in anything but these familiar constructions.
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Anonymous The number of bikes in this city has increased a lot.
I first came up with that phrase.

But I've found many examples of '(have/has) increased very much' on Google books.

Do you think they all sound awkward?
AnonymousThe second sentence, because of the use of the word "dramatically," has a specific meaning:
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Another set expression is, "My weight hasn't increased very much since high school." But the phrase, "increased very much", in a positive statement, doesn't sound right.

"The number of bikes in this city has increased remarkably." is okay grammatically, but you wouldn't say this unless you were trying to sound very formal.
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Anonymous"The number of bikes in this city has increased remarkably." is okay grammatically, but you wouldn't say this unless you were trying to sound very formal.
Then what about 'really' like this?

The number of bikes in this city has really increased.
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