very often

[kab]

Hi all

The expression " very often"

I want to know what does it means exactly?

Is it commonly used nowadays or it's an old one?



Thank you

 

[panjandrum]

You know what often means, I assume.
Very often is more often than often.
There is no precise quantification of often, or of very often. Both are very subjective.
Your question implies that you consider "very often" to be a fixed expression, or idiom of some kind. It isn't, at least not in my head.

 

[Aya del Playa]

It's still in common use, although I hear it more in British English than American English. Americans are more likely to say "a lot" (for example, I go to the movies a lot).

 

[panjandrum]

It's still in common use, although I hear it more in British English than American English. Americans are more likely to say "a lot" (for example, I go to the movies a lot).

How curious! It wouldn't have occurred to me that there could be anything AE/BE about such a simple collocation. It seems as natural and as neutral as ... (thinking...... ) brown socks.

 

[mgarizona]

"Very often" is alive and well in AE as well. Though it might be true that we're especially fond of its raven-haired twin: "Not very often."

(Which is even harder to define!)

 

[Aya del Playa]

I think people on this side of the pond tend to wear black socks.

 

[kab]

Thank you all