# Could this be proper english? "Oh how I very wish it were possible." **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 18, 2003, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-this-be-proper-english-oh-how-i-very-wish-it-were-possible/213979 "2003-11-18T21:38:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![alterego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6bbea6/32.png) [@alterego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alterego)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2003, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-this-be-proper-english-oh-how-i-very-wish-it-were-possible/213979/1 "2003-11-18T21:38:06Z")
i kind of like the sound of it but i’m not sure if it works, is it possible to ‘very wish’ ? 🙂 thanks! ---
**Author:** ![sugaree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@sugaree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sugaree)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2003, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-this-be-proper-english-oh-how-i-very-wish-it-were-possible/213979/2 "2003-11-18T21:56:34Z")
You can “very much wish” but not directly “very wish.” Personally, I like understatement. I’d go for a simple “Oh, how I wish it were possible.” Barring that, “Oh, I very much wish it were possible.” ---
**Author:** ![refusal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ac91a4/32.png) [@refusal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/refusal)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2003, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-this-be-proper-english-oh-how-i-very-wish-it-were-possible/213979/3 "2003-11-18T23:17:37Z")
If you want a cite and some jargon, The Oxford Reference Grammar (Sidney Greenbaum, ed. Edmund Wiener. OUP. Oxford. 2000.) states that “very” can function only as a premodifier of an adjective or another adverb, and not as an adverbial (an adverbial is an optional component of a sentence which modifies the sentence as a whole or the verb specifically). (p 173). ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2003, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-this-be-proper-english-oh-how-i-very-wish-it-were-possible/213979/4 "2003-11-18T23:24:56Z")
Agreed. “Very” is a special adverb that can’t stand alone like this. Suggestions: “Oh, how dearly I wish…” “Oh, how greatly I wish…” Just dropping the “very” seems the best way, though. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2003, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-this-be-proper-english-oh-how-i-very-wish-it-were-possible/213979/5 "2003-11-18T23:31:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kizarvexius \* > Just dropping the “very” seems the best way, though. 'Tis often thus. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2003, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-this-be-proper-english-oh-how-i-very-wish-it-were-possible/213979/6 "2003-11-19T02:47:55Z")
Or you can go Ivy League: “Oh, would that it were possible.” ---
**Author:** ![alterego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6bbea6/32.png) [@alterego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alterego)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2003, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-this-be-proper-english-oh-how-i-very-wish-it-were-possible/213979/7 "2003-11-19T05:49:51Z")
shucks! i really liked the sound of it too 😉 i’ll go with Kizarvexius, i remember reading an article recently about the archaic usage of would thanks all ---
**Author:** ![robo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@robo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robo99)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2003, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-this-be-proper-english-oh-how-i-very-wish-it-were-possible/213979/8 "2003-11-19T07:10:01Z")
Okay, I don’t have access to OED anymore but I bet that “very” originally appeared as a shortened form of “veritable” and that terms like “veritable wish” became “very wish” but nowadays “very wish” does not follow the rules of grammar (by whoever imposes these rules) and so is not considered “proper english”. Just because a term isn’t “proper” doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use it. Language is constantly evolving - if enough people were to say “very wish” during the next 10 years it could very well be considered “proper”. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2003, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-this-be-proper-english-oh-how-i-very-wish-it-were-possible/213979/9 "2003-11-19T07:19:21Z")
You can make a construct that will work. For example “the very wish of possibility”. As in \*the main jet Struggling aloft until it seems at rest In the act of rising, until The very wish of water is reversed\* Richard Wilbur U.S. poet. A Baroque Wall-Fountain in the Villa Sciarra ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2003, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-this-be-proper-english-oh-how-i-very-wish-it-were-possible/213979/10 "2003-11-19T11:04:55Z")
But, **don’t ask** , surely that example is using “very” in the sense of “actual”, as in “get right to the very heart of the matter”. ---
**Author:** ![gouda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c77e96/32.png) [@gouda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gouda)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2003, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-this-be-proper-english-oh-how-i-very-wish-it-were-possible/213979/11 "2003-11-19T11:11:12Z")
Maybe when spoken with an [Indian accent](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=221076), it’s ok 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![robo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@robo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robo99)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2003, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-this-be-proper-english-oh-how-i-very-wish-it-were-possible/213979/12 "2003-11-19T13:31:36Z")
r\_k hits the nail on the head! Veritable = Very = Actual. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2003, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-this-be-proper-english-oh-how-i-very-wish-it-were-possible/213979/13 "2003-11-19T15:54:26Z")
How about: “Oh how I verily wish it were possible”? It’s a little obsolete, but it’s grammatically correct.