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I overheard a gentleman today exclaiming how he was sehr zufrieden with the contract he'd beaten out of his employers that day. Now, I have never used 'very' with 'satisfied' before; it just doesn't sound right to me. I'd say 'completely', or 'entirely' instead of 'very'. And checking the archives, it turns out that 'very satisfied' has only been used once before on the board. That's no surprise I hear you saying! Anyway, is it wrong?
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Carpal Tunnel
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A lot of expressions with "very" don't give exact meaning that including "much" or "little"
would give.
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Pooh-Bah
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"I am completely satisfied that he is entirely dead," the doctor pronounced.
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I think, BY, very satisfying is much more common than very satisfied. The former I usually say or hear as I'm satisfied or I'm greatly satisfied. But in a future tense, I do tend to use I can be or I could be very satisfied with those results. Which just shows I'm hard to please, which makes this all a moot point, huh?  
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is it wrong?
Yes, I think it is, belligerent one - or at least awkward.
Very happy, maybe, but completely satisfied.
Something to do with the difference between adjectives and verbs, perhaps?
Very delighted doesn't really work either, for instance.
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My Websters II has this usage note:
When functioning as an adjective, a form such as encouraged or pleased may be modified by very alone (a very tired child); a very interested audience). When a term functions as a past participle in a verb phrase, the appropriate modifier is very much (has been very much praised by the critics; was very much enlightened by your explanation). Thre are many borderline cases, however, where either modifier may occur, as in was very (much) mistaken.; was very (much) distressed.
Now this doesn't really answer the question, but I'm a pretty good writer and I would not interchange very and completely only for the reason that very satisfied and completely satisfied are not the same thing. Completely is an absolute. Very is comparitive. Very happy leaves room for improvement on the level of happinenss.
TEd
TEd
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Completely is an absolute. Very is comparitive. Very happy leaves room for improvement on the level of happinenssYou're definitely right there, TEd - the meanings are significantly different. However, I still think that very satisfied doesn't work. If you wanted a comparative phrase, "quite satisfied", "fairly satisfied" or "pretty satisfied" would all be fine, but I can't think of an equivalent at the "very" end of the scale. It is the end of a long day, however. A curiosity, this. Nice one, BY 
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I received a B on my final in Physics -- I was very satisfied, considering how little I studied for it. (more than quite, but not completely)
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Then, too, very can be intesified to a greater degree by emphasis when spoken, implying an even greater degree of satisfaction.
She was very satisfied with the size of her Christmas bonus.
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<mumble mumble> very <mumble mumble> Ha! <mumble mumble> not at all more like, for me <mumble mumble> just doesn't sound right <mumble mumble> not that I'm crotchety or anything, but <mumble mumble>How about extremely satisfied? Eh? Eh? Oh, alright then. You win.
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I'm extremely satisfied with the answers:-\ No way, it sounds dumb.
Of course, Ted is spot on about 'very' and 'completely' not being interchangeable, for it's obvious they mean something different.
The point I wanted to make, is that it doesn't seem right to say 'very satisfied', because the meaning of 'to satisfy' is to fulfil all your needs, but nothing more. That's why people say I was more than satisfied. 'Very' intensifies hot because hot is an open ended scale, but things either conform to your requirements/needs/wants or they don't. Either some, most, or all are fulfilled. It seems a bit like saying it is 'very mild' - though it's not really. But no one would say that goal is 'very accomplished', or my needs were 'very met', or my hopes were 'very realised'. Are those examples not similar? Oh, well. I'm glad Shona understands me!
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'Very' intensifies hot because hot is an open ended scale, but things either conform to your requirements/needs/wants or they don't.
hey by, that was just the point I was going to make. Isn't "satisfied" an absolute? Either you are or you aren't (satisfied, I mean). It's like saying someone is a little bit pregnant, or another someone is very dead, or that something is extremely unique.
Let us go in peace to love and serve the board.
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Although the subject has now been exhaustively treated by our experts, let me contribute the modest remark that, like most translations, satisfied is not completely congruent to zufrieden. The German word is not derived from a participle, and it has more of that "open-ended" property. So "sehr zufrieden" goes down without effort, while "very satisfied" makes me think of a letter of recommendation by a grumpy ex-boss.
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"very satisfied" makes me think of a letter of recommendation by a grumpy ex-bossPerfect, wsieb. No way could I have put it better (and I haven't  ) ! Oh, and much respect to BY & MG, as you two also managed to put my vague feeling that something was rotten in the state of Denmark into words. I hereby (re)turn my coat and retract my acceptance of "very satisfied". [stubborn-e]
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The point I wanted to make, is that it doesn't seem right to say 'very satisfied', because the meaning of 'to satisfy' is to fulfil all your needs,
but nothing more.
Yes, but you can be half satisfied thereby implying that you are only half way to fulfilling your needs.
So there are increasing levels of satisfaction but none that exceed the highest level of satisfaction and more than satisfied is just a turn of phrase.
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Isn't "satisfied" an absolute? Either you are or you aren't (satisfied, I mean).
I don't think so, MG. As I pointed out in the above post you can have different levels of satisfaction you just can't exceed the highest level so satisfcation is not an absolute - it's a measure.
It's like saying someone is a little bit pregnant, or another someone is very dead, or that something is extremely unique.
Again, I think pregnancy has different stages (heavily pregnant etc.) therefore it can be a measure similarly you can be half-dead or near-death without being dead. they're not scientific measures but we all know what they mean when we read them.
On the other hand, unique is definitely an absolute.
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