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I think it is ok to write "very huge" in a context like this (although "very" is a bit redundant here):

This is a very huge map.

However, the following sounds strange to me:

This map is very huge.

I can't really explain why I think it is wrong, so please correct me or give an explanation.

Peter Zeller
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    It sounds a bit odd, because 'huge' is already a superlative which means 'very large indeed'. So by 'very huge' the thing becomes positively Gargantuan. It is not a good habit to over-intensify. – WS2 Feb 10 '15 at 14:45
  • @WS2, agreed. I don't think it can be faulted technically but it sounds odd. – David Garner Feb 10 '15 at 14:47
  • @FF Unique' is an absolute, not a 'strong', adjective. 'Very unique' is as acceptable as 'very nuclear' – Edwin Ashworth Feb 10 '15 at 15:14
  • I think I'd have to go for one of: "very large", "huge", and if pushed, "really huge" (which does not so much intensify huge as it does attempt to validate it's use) – Jim Feb 10 '15 at 15:25
  • @Jim I don't agree that this 'really' is necessarily the modal usage rather than the intensifier usage. You could check to see the proportion for each usage in a Google search (ignoring debatable cases). I've done this, and found few (if any) modal pragmatic marker examples. That 'really' is often fronted, or placed in terminal position. But you're right about 'really huge' sounding far better than 'very huge'. Crazy language. – Edwin Ashworth Feb 10 '15 at 16:04
  • @Jim I don't think I've ever seen 'very huge'. By adding 'very' it seems to take something away from huge, leaving the impression that plain 'huge' isn't so big any more. An example of the sense in which 'huge' is often used is: They were all very big, but this particular one was huge. So 'very huge' in my book is a nonsense. – WS2 Feb 10 '15 at 16:30
  • @EdwinAshworth- For what I'm thinking about I don't see how Google could possible know which sense of really is being used because they are identical in written form. I'm just trying to justify to myself why really might work while very doesn't. – Jim Feb 10 '15 at 17:07
  • Perhaps saying "truly huge" is comparable to my proposed usage of "really huge" – Jim Feb 10 '15 at 21:41
  • @Jim Google is non-sentient. Here's the first hit I get: 'the sleeping area was really huge too'. It wouldn't make sense in the context to substitute 'actually'. The third: 'we will create a really huge URL'. Again, 'actually' doesn't work. 4/5/6/7/8: 'a really huge bed' / 'incredibly tiny house seems really huge inside' / 'Amazon's Latest Plan To Make Its Cloud Business Really Huge' / Really HUGE Cats / Pins about Really HUGE Machines!. These are all intensifier usages, not modal markers. – Edwin Ashworth Feb 10 '15 at 22:21
  • Google is non-sentient so far... ;-) – Jim Feb 10 '15 at 22:30

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