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очень. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
очень, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
очень in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
очень you have here. The definition of the word
очень will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
очень, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
Russian
Etymology
Unknown:
- Often interpreted as inherited from Old East Slavic *очьнь (*očĭnĭ) from око (oko, “eye”); the semantic shift might be "visibly > obviously > prominently > very". The non-productive ending is similar to adverbs like вкривь (vkrivʹ), впрямь (vprjamʹ), встарь (vstarʹ).
- Alternatively, proposed by Lehrman (1987) to be a borrowing from a Finnic language. Compare Finnish oikein and Ingrian oikiin.
Pronunciation
Adverb
о́чень • (óčenʹ)
- very, really, much, very much
- Synonyms: изря́дно (izrjádno), весьма́ (vesʹmá), дю́же (djúže)
- Тако́е случа́ется о́чень ре́дко. ― Takóje slučájetsja óčenʹ rédko. ― This happens very rarely.
- Я о́чень люблю́ тебя́. ― Ja óčenʹ ljubljú tebjá. ― I really love you. / I love you very much.
- Э́то о́чень тру́дно. ― Éto óčenʹ trúdno. ― It's really hard.
Predicative
о́чень • (óčenʹ)
- (colloquial, in the negative) not very good, not very well
- Всё прошло́ не о́чень. ― Vsjo prošló ne óčenʹ. ― It didn't go very well.
- Дела́ иду́т не о́чень. ― Delá idút ne óčenʹ. ― Things aren't going very well.
- Всё вы́глядит не о́чень. ― Vsjo výgljadit ne óčenʹ. ― Things don't look very good.
- Э́то звучи́т не о́чень. ― Éto zvučít ne óčenʹ. ― That doesn't sound very good.
References
- Vasmer, Max (1964–1973) “очень”, in Oleg Trubachyov, transl., Этимологический словарь русского языка (in Russian), Moscow: Progress
- Alexander Lehrman (1987) “The Etymology of OЧEНЬ”, in Russian Linguistics, volume 11, number 1, pages 31-36