Active voice; What's the meaning of the word week in 'very week'?

[daltomaciel]

At the phase:

I met Mr. Oakland last week and he told me he was getting divorced from his wife that very week.
1) Is it missing any word after "wife"? Because I think it's strange.
2)How to pass to active voice?
3) What's the meaning of the word "week" in "very week"?

[Ralf]

Hi daltomaciel,

The sentence is fine. You could also say 'He was getting divorced from his wife in the same week that he told me this', but 'that very week' sounds better.

If you got rid of 'he told me he...', it'd be hard to think of a natural sounding subclause, although you could say "I met Mr. Oakland last week and he was getting divorced from his wife that very week."
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[daltomaciel]

Thank you.
So, in this case, "very" means "same", doesn't?
Can I use it this way "I won two prizes in the very week." ?

[Ralf]

Hi daltomaciel,

You're on the right track. But 'very' here means as much as 'the very same', so -- unfortunately -- your example doesn't work.

"He was getting divorced from his wife in the same week that he told me this."
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[daltomaciel]

Thanks

Now I understood: "very" isn't used just to replace "same". In fact is used to make a shorter sentence.