“我们的老师说，alone 可以被 very much 修饰，但不能用 very 修饰”——我认为这个说法不正确。

▲在以a-开头的表语形容词，如afraid, alike, alone, ashamed 等，用very 或very much 修饰都正确。例如：

He is very (very much) afraid.

The twins are very (very much) alike.

She felt very (very much) alone and misunderstood. 她觉得非常孤独，得不到别人的理解。

Spook suddenly felt very (very much) alone and awfully small. 斯布克突然感到很孤独而且非常渺小。

But when it happens to you, you can feel very (very much) alone and unsure of what it all means. 尽管如此，当这一切发生到你头上时，你还是会感觉很孤单，不能确定这一切意味着什么。

Many young people find their first day at high school or college difficult, because they feel very (very much) alone. What do you think are the other difficulties they face on their first day? 很多人发现他们到学校的第一天，感到很孤独，你认为还有什么问题他们需要面对吗？

I think she feels very (very much) alone in the world. 我认为她觉得在世上颇为孤单。

In truth you feel very (very much) alone. 事实上你觉得很孤单。

 ▲【特别说明】我在语料库 Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA)中，输入very alone，查到68个例句；输入very much alone，查到35个例句。这说明用very 修饰alone 是very much 的两倍。

【问题探讨】

“我很喜欢英语。”这句话，好多英语初学者不明白，为什么翻译成 I like English very much. 而不是 I very like English. ？

       我认为，very 和very much 虽然都是程度副词，但是它们的区别是：very 重在状态概念，very much 重在动作概念——这是问题的根本所在。下面详细谈谈这个问题。

       very 重在修饰“状态概念”：

       This dictionary is very useful to my English study. 这本词典对我的英语学习很有用。

He was driving very carefully then. 当时他车开得很仔细。

We don't have very many copies left. 我们所剩的册数不多。

There’s never very much news on Sundays. 星期日从来就没有多少新闻。

Very few people can pronounce my name correctly. 很少有人能把我的名字念正确。

He had very little schooling. 他没上过几天学。

very much 修饰“动作概念”（可分3类）：

第一类：

very much 修饰动词，尤其是like, love, prefer, hope, wish, expect, want, miss, intend, mean, enjoy, would like, feel like, hate, regret, admire, thank, appreciate, believe, trust, look forward to, think of 这些动词（或词组）。这些词语有一个共同特点，就是表达人的“欲想，好恶，观念”等概念。例如：

I hope to go to Beijing University very much.我很希望上北京大学。

She would like to join your club very much.她很想参加你们的俱乐部。

Thank you very much for your encouragement.  非常感谢你对我的鼓励。

We appreciate your invitation very much.我们非常感激您的邀请。

They looked forward very much to seeing him again.  他们非常盼望再次见到他。

Tom likes to eat pineapple very much. 汤姆非常喜欢吃菠萝。

I can not say smoking appeal to me very much. 我不能说吸烟对我有多大吸引力。

I enjoyed reading these books very much. 我很喜欢读这些书。

She minded very much that he had not come. 他没有来，她为此十分不悦。

He regretted very much having said something gross. 他讲了一些粗话,对此非常後悔。

He admires your poems very much. 他非常欣赏你的诗。

Her children have gone to Australia, and she missed them very much. 孩子们去了澳大利亚, 她非常惦记他们。

I hope very much that you will find time to visit my company soon.  我非常希望您不久即有暇来我公司访问。

For, you see, they trusted their own sense of touch very much. 因为你知道，他们非常相信自己的触觉。

This is a short story whose easy style I love very much. 这是一则短篇小说，我很喜欢它那简单的笔调。

His exclusion from the tennis club hurt him very much.  他未被吸收进网球俱乐部，这使他的自尊心大受伤害。

I'd very much like you to come to our party.  我非常希望你能来参加我们的聚会。

I grieve very much for what I have done. 我为自己的行为感到痛心。

Losing the ring upset her very much.  指环的遗失使她很心烦意乱。

This computer program matters very much.  这套电脑程序非常重要。

I don't think of my old home very much, only every now and again.  我并不怎么想念老家，只是偶尔想想罢了。

Her husband's failure to notice her new hairstyle displeased her very much.  她丈夫没注意到她的新发型，这使她大为不快。

I dislike this student very much.  我很讨厌这个学生。

We want to hear your opinion very much.  我们很想听到你的意见。

very much多用于句末或动词之后，但有时也可提到动词之前。如：

I very much regret what I’ve done now.我现在非常后悔做过的事情。

I very much wish myself out of the affair.  我非常希望我自己不卷入这件事。

第二类：

very much 不仅可以修饰动词，而且可以修饰由过去分词变来的形容词，因为这些过去分词形容词仍然具有动词的意味。例如：

I was very much surprised at the news.我对这个消息感到十分惊讶。

The atmosphere of the city is very much polluted. 那个城市的空气受到严重污染。

He was very much delighted with the results. 他对这个结果感到非常满意。

I am very much pleased that we have come to term in the end. 我们终于达成协议了，我感到非常高兴。

I am very much concerned for the state of his health. 我对他的健康状况很关心。

Mr. Hunter is very much interested in collecting antiques. 汉特先生对收藏古董非常感兴趣。

I am very much obliged to you for coming round. 你们到这儿来，我非常感激。

Jack is very much attached to the little boy. 杰克很喜欢这个小男孩。

She seems very much opposed to your going abroad. 她好像很反对你出国。

They were very much pressed and needed our help. 他们手头很紧，需要我们帮助。

第三类：

very much 还可以修饰具有动作性质的介词短语，例如：

Oh, good, I am very much in favor of your proposal. 哦，好，我非常赞成你的建议。

It was very much beyond expectations. 这十分出人意料。

To all appearances, they are very much in love. 显然他们正处在热恋之中。

Miniskirts used to be very much in the mode. 迷你裙以前很流行。

He is said to be very much in the President's confidence. 据说他深受总统的信任。

He is very much at ease in life. 他生活得非常舒适而无忧虑。

They always make us feel very much at home. 他们总是使我们感到非常自在。

The calm water surface is very much like a mirror. 那平静的水面十分象一面镜子。。

He's very much under the influence of the older boys. 那些比他大的男孩对他影响很大。

Dick Jones is very much in tune with his boss and knows exactly what she wants. 迪克·琼斯和他的上司十分协调，他完全知道她想干什么。

看见陈老师多少持有不同的意见，我再补充几句：

葛传椝先生的《英语惯用法词典》（1958年版），在much词条下是这样说的：

（3）在英国，在alive, alone, ashamed等表语形容词前面用much，不用very，但much不及用very much普通。但美国往往用very，如very afarid。

需要说明的是：

1. 该书并没有否认在alone之前用very。只是说明英式英语和美式英语的不同：前者用much，后者用very。

2. 语言是在发展的。50多年前葛传槼先生都认为两种用法都可以存在，何况发展到今天的英语是个什么样子？

3. 随便在一个语料库查阅，我们就会见到very alone, very afraid, very alive, very ashamed，可以说比比皆是，况且，例句比very much 还要多。

4. 在平时阅读当中，我们也经常见到这样的表达。

5. 先有语言，后有规则，语法规则是为语言服务的。当语法规则不适应语言发展的时候，就会阻碍语言的学习和实践。所以，不符合语言现实的规则，就需要修正或摒弃了。

你们老师的观点是正确的。

alone 可以被 very much，much，all 修饰；但一般不用 very 修饰。

比如：她独自一人。正确的翻译是：

She is all alone.

She is very much alone.

She is much alone.

但不能说：She is very alone.