I'm having a bit of trouble explaining to a friend whether or not there's a big difference between the three modifiers in the title. Same and very on their own are different enough, but when combined, I find it difficult to draw a proper line on their meanings. Consider the following:
- I lived in the same house you're talking about.
- I lived in the very house you're talking about.
- I lived in the very same house you're talking about.
Here, I understand there is a nuance in sentences one and two, though I have trouble explaining just what it is. "The very same" sounds like "the exact one", but wouldn't that be what "same" means anyway? Plus, that last sentence truly boggles the mind. How do you explain the grade of intensity expressed in sentence three? How do you explain each modifier?
Best Answer
It's to do with emphasis. "The very house" is a stronger, more particular way of saying "the same". "The very same" emphasises the identity even further. This might seem odd, because the same house is either just the same house or it's not. What is intensified through such usage though, is the interest in, or surprise about, or the odds against the house being the same.
Though I don't think it's particularly AmE. While we're considering Shakespeare, we might find:
How to explain the use of the modifier? It's in the tradition of the "double superlative", which is well-established usage in English. Just as you can't logically have degrees of "the same", you can't have "most unkindest". But many writers (and speakers) have done/do the very same kind of thing to provide the most boldest emphasis.