FEBRUARY 10, 2009 | Very excellent/very great
A: It's not "wrong", per se, but it doesn't sound very natural. Why? Because words such as "great", "excellent", "fantastic", "super", etc. all have "very" as part of their meaning. By saying something like "That's a great movie!" or "That's an excellent movie!", you're actually saying "That's a very good movie!"... So, adding an extra "very" is unnecessary. Some native speakers do use "pretty" in front of these words, as in "That's a pretty excellent movie". To make sure you sound natural, however, it's best to avoid using other adjectives with words such as great, excellent, fantastic, etc. It would, however, be alright to say something like "that's a very, very, very good movie!" :)
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