Really, very, pretty...

Hey everyone, sorry for not posting in awhile but I was enjoying my Golden Week in Kagoshima. It was nice and sunny there and I got a bit of a tan ^_-

So, before the holidays I was at work reading where I thought it was interesting to get a bit of an explanation on how to use these modifiers. I had never really thought about it before...

Really is used more often than very in positive sentences (+'ve).

That girl is really beautiful.

I'm really hungry.

I'm very hungry. (grammatically ok but sounds unnatural)

Pretty is also often used in positive sentences, it is NOT very strong. It's used in casual English to soften sentences.

That girl is pretty beautiful. (not that beautiful)

I'm pretty hungry. (not so hungry)

Very is used to soften negative sentences (-'ve) and it used more often than really. It sounds more formal to me.

That girl isn't very beautiful.
That girl's not very beautiful.

I'm not very hungry.

These next sentences are much more casual, some are even kind of mean...

That girl isn't really beautiful. (kind of mean and not so natural)
That girl's not really beautiful. (kind of mean)

I'm not really hungry. (casual, normal to me)

I usually use 's not more than isn't so it sounds more casual and natural to me but other people may think the opposite. It is a difference in dialect I guess, like the difference between Osaka-ben and Tokyo-ben.

I hope you are all enjoying your holidays~!

Phil