I am writing this in the context of writing to a university:
The [name] university is well known in the scientific community and its courses are of very respected academic value.
I would like to know if the construct “are of very” is grammatically correct.
It's not “are of very” but “are of [adjective] [noun]” where [adjective] is the adjectival phrase “very respected” and [noun] is the noun phrase “academic value”. The construction “X is of [adjective] [noun]” means “the [noun] of X is [adjective]” and can be used for nouns expressing qualities with an adjective quantifying the quality. It is also possible to directly qualify the noun: “an X of [adjective] [noun]”.
This topic is of great importance.
This woman is of considerable means.
I see a man of average height.
He is a man of little faith.
the courses. and not the academic value of its courses please?
– Marco Dinatsoli
Jan 24 '14 at 23:19
You might be able to stretch the rules of grammar to allow that sentence construction, but it's very awkward and sounds wrong.
It sounds to me like you're trying to say that
The [name] university is well known in the scientific community and its courses are very respected for their academic value.
Besides some set phrases, like "a man of average height", it's probably best to avoid this construction.
are of veryis correct gramatically or not? – Marco Dinatsoli Jan 24 '14 at 22:15