[susan53]

1. No. "Not really" definitely means No To say not yes/not no you'd say something like : I was OK or It wasn't bad. But intonation would play a big part there.

2. They're fine and there's no real difference - though if I was running a meeting and someone arrived 5 mins before the end, I'd say they'd missed it

[fface]

Hi susan,


A: Are you hungry now?
B1: Yes, but not very much.
B2: Not really.

Can I use 'not really' to mean B1 here?
Is 'not really' also a polite way of saying 'not...very much'?

Thanks for your help.

[susan53]

Very much can't be used with adjectives (like hungry). Much is used with uncountable nouns - I haven't got very much money - while very many is the equivalent for countable nouns - He hasn't got very many friends.

With adjectives you just use an adverb - very, really, desperately etc - so the conversation should be :

A: Are you hungry now?
B1: (Yes, but... or No,) Not very.
or
B2: (No,) Not really.
or
B3: (Yes, but...or (No) Not desperately.

etc etc. The words in brackets are optional.

[fface]

Quote susan53

A: Are you hungry now?
B1: (Yes, but... or No,) Not very.
or
B2: (No,) Not really.
or
B3: (Yes, but...or (No) Not desperately.

etc etc. The words in brackets are optional.

Hi susan,

Is there any difference between not very, not really and not desperately here?

Is 'Not desperately' more formal?

Thanks for your correction.

[susan53]

Not really, no

But Not desperately is slightly more informal.