afraid - very afraid - very much afraid

[Nessie]

Hi,
Please have a look at these sentences:

1. I'm afraid of it very much
2. I'm very afraid of it (26)
3. I'm very much afraid of it

=> #1 is surely all right, but I just wonder if #2 and #3 are correct and natural. I found only 26 results for "very afraid" and 15 results for "very much afraid" (most of them don't have "of" accompanied with "afraid")

Thank you very much
Nessie
_________________
... something we never have again, I know... I guess I really really know..

Sorry seems to be the hardest word...

[Haihao]

They all sound fine to me.

[Nessie]

Thanks a lot, Haihao
And may I have ideas of some native speakers, please? ( I need to make sure if they are all ok in "used-at-school" English" )
_________________
... something we never have again, I know... I guess I really really know..

Sorry seems to be the hardest word...

[Nessie]

Hello?!
_________________
... something we never have again, I know... I guess I really really know..

Sorry seems to be the hardest word...

[Yankee]

Hi Nessie

Your first sentence actually sounds awkward to me. I'd say your second sentence would be by far the most commonly used of the three.
This is how I would rank your sentences in terms of frequency of usage:

- I'm very afraid of (something).
- I'm very much afraid of (something).
- I'm afraid of (something) very much.


.

[MrPedantic]

I think it would be the same ranking in BrE.

(I like the idea of font size/frequency correspondence.)

MrP