Very much - word order

Question

Are these sentences correct? If not, what would you change?

1 - "At school we talk very much about you."

2 - "I like talking to you very much."

3 - "I would like to meet you very much."

Thank you very much

Regards · Accepted Answer

Hi,

I don't think very much fits well to either sentence.

1. We talk about you at school quite often. (Informal: We talk about you very much at school.)

2. I enjoy talking with you. (Informal: I like talking to you very much.)

3. I would be very glad / delighted to meet you.

Regards

Acosta · Answer

Thank you very much.

Anonymous · Answer

Regards2. I enjoy talking with you. (Informal: I like talking to you very much.)

It is in American English. Outside the US, it is just talking to.

Fivejedjon · Answer

Anonymoust is in American English. Outside the US, it is just talking to.

Except when it's talking with. 'Talk to' is far more common in BrE than 'talk with', but the latter is far from unknown, as I have pointed out before. See https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=talk+to%2Ctalked+to%2Ctalk+with%2Ctalked+with%2Ctalking+to%2Ctalking+with&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=18&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2Ctalk%20to%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Ctalked%20to%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Ctalk%20with%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Ctalked%20with%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Ctalking%20to%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Ctalking%20with%3B%2Cc0.

Anonymous · Answer

It's mainly Americans who say 'talk with'.

CalifJim · Answer

fivejedjon Anonymoust is in American English. Outside the US, it is just talking to.Except when it's talking with. 'Talk to' is far more common in BrE than 'talk with', but the latter is far from unknwn, as I have pointed out before. See this Ngram .

It's curious that in British English 'talk with' was used more than 'talked to' until 1980.

CJ

Anonymous · Answer

CalifJimIt's curious that in British English 'talk with' was used more than 'talked to' until 1980.CJ

What's that based on?

Fivejedjon · Answer

AnonymousIt's mainly Americans who say 'talk with'.

No one is questioning the fact that 'talk with' is more common in AmE and 'talk to' more common in BrE. The problem with your frequent comments on what is AmE and what is BrE (if you are the Anon who often posts opinions as if they were facts) is that you rarely provide evidence for what you say. One consequence of this is that learners may be led to believe that what they are writing/saying is unacceptable in BrE, when in reality it may not be.

As a result of my age and rather formal education in the 1950s and 1960s, I, personally, tend to use the form and spellings that you consider to be British English, and not use the forms and spellings that you consider to be American English. However, I have learnt to accept that British English has changed over the last fifty or so years. Constructions and spellings that I would have been flogged for when I was at school are now used by Professors of English Language at leading British universities. I have been an FCE/CAE and an IELTS examiner, and I know that many of the things you consider to be AmE are not penalised in those examinations.

You are entitled to your opinions, but please either label them as such or provide evidence for what you claim.

CalifJim · Answer

Anonymous CalifJim It's curious that in British English 'talk with' was used more than 'talked to' until 1980.CJ What's that based on?

The Ngram provided. Didn't you click on that link? Come on! Keep up with the discussion. You snooze, you lose!

CJ

Fivejedjon · Answer

CalifJimThe Ngram provided. Didn't you click on that link?

Evidence, schmevidence, I knows what I knows

Very much - word order

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