https://onlineteachersuk.com/adverbs-of-degree/
Adverbs of degree can be split into two groups: adverbs that intensify the degree of something vs. adverbs that weaken the degree of something.
Adverbs that increase, or intensify, the meaning include words such as: very, totally, completely, and absolutely. For example: I’m totally convinced Sam will quit his job.
Adverbs that decrease or weaken the degree of meaning include words such as: fairly, quite, slightly, and a bit. For example: I’m fairly certain it will rain tomorrow.
How do we use them?
An adverb of degree can modify an adjective, another adverb or a verb. Have a look at the following examples:
- She is very tall. (Modifies the adjective)
- He walked quite slowly. (Modifies the adverb)
- I really like that film. (Modifies the verb)
Adverbs of degree can modify adjectives or adverbs:
Subject + main verb + adverb of degree + adjective
e.g. Jane is very happy.
Subject + main verb + adverb of degree + adverb
e.g. Tom walks extremely quickly.
Adverbs of degree can also modify verbs:
Subject + adverb of degree + main verb
e.g. The boys thoroughly enjoyed their trip to the theatre.
With modal verbs, the adverb of degree can appear before the modal verb or before the main verb, depending on the meaning.
For example:
Subject + adverb of degree + modal + main verb
e.g. You really should look where you are going!
Subject + modal + adverb of degree + main verb
e.g. You should really look at the instructions first.
With auxiliary verbs (e.g. have and is/are), the adverb usually goes before the main verb. For example:
Subject + auxiliary verb + adverb of degree + past participle
e.g. I have really enjoyed studying at this school.
Subject + auxiliary verb + adverb of degree + past participle
e.g. I have totally forgotten to bring my phone.
As we’ve mentioned above, we can separate adverbs of degree into two main types: adverbs that intensify the meaning or make it stronger (e.g. very), and adverbs that weaken the meaning, also called ‘downtoners’, (e.g. slightly).
1. Weakening the meaning
There are times in English when we want to specifically describe our use of an adjective or adverb. For instance, we may wish to express that we are quite nervous or a bit cold. This is more exact than just saying I’m nervous or I’m cold. The adverbs in this category are all used in the same way. The position of the adverb is before the adjective or adverb.
The following adverbs all weaken the adjective or adverb and all appear before the adverb or adjective in the sentence: a bit, fairly, pretty, quite, rather, slightly, and somewhat.
2. Intensifying the meaning (gradable adjectives)
There are many adverbs that intensify, or make the meaning stronger. For grammatical reasons, we need to separate these adverbs into two groups. Our choice of adverb depends on whether the adjective (which the adverb is intensifying) is gradable or ungradable.
For example, ‘hot’ is a gradable adjective, but ‘boiling’ is ungradable. So, we can say: It is very hot AND It is absolutely boiling, but NOT It is very boiling. The table below gives further examples of gradable and ungradable adjectives and the intensifiers used with them.
| Intensifier + gradable adjective | Intensifier + ungradable adjective |
| Very cold | Absolutely freezing |
| Extremely tired | Completely exhausted |
| Really happy | Absolutely ecstatic |
| Very hungry | Totally starving |
The adverbs in this group are always positioned in front of the adjective (which they intensify).
For example: He is extremely intelligent.
The following adverbs are intensifiers that can be used with ungradable adjectives: awfully, extremely, highly, perfectly, remarkably and terribly. These adverbs can also be used to modify an adverb.
For example: She climbed the mountain extremely quickly.
Intensifying the meaning (ungradable adjectives)
Adverbs that intensify an ungradable adjective appear in the same position as other adverbs in this group. They nearly always go before the adjective. Note that this group of adverbs do not modify other adverbs.
Example: John was totally exhausted.
The following adverbs are intensifiers that can be used with ungradable adjectives: absolutely, completely, entirely, totally and utterly.
| How strongly adverbs of degree modify adverbs and adjectives | |||
| Mild | Medium | Strong | Absolute |
| + | ++ | +++ | ++++ |
| a little a bit slightly | fairly pretty quite rather somewhat | remarkably awfully extremely highly terribly a lot really incredibly particularly deeply enormously greatly incredibly lots most remarkably strongly very | totally utterly completely absolutely entirely perfectly thoroughly |
- Adverbs that behave differently
There are a few adverbs of degree that do not neatly fit into the three groups above. The following examples show the position and use of these adverbs.
- A lot has a similar meaning to ‘very much’. It is used to modify verbs. For example: I like playing badminton a lot.
- Too can be used as an intensifier, but it has a negative meaning. It means ‘more than is acceptable or needed’.For example: That costs too much.
- Enough is positioned after an adjective or adverb, not before it. It means ‘to the degree that is necessary’. For example: Are you warm enough?
- Collocations
An additional issue with choosing which adverb to use is that some adverbs collocate better with some adjectives than others. In other words, some adverbs and adjectives are used frequently together in English and others just don’t ‘sound right’. Common adverbs usually collocate well. For example very collocates with most adjectives: very tall, very hungry, very beautiful. Other adverbs do not collocate with every adjective or adverb. For example, it is possible to be ‘highly intelligent’, but not ‘highly clever’!
The following are examples of common collocations with adverbs of degree:
highly intelligent perfectly well pretty good remarkably well terribly difficult
totally brilliant utterly awful absolutely amazing perfectly simple
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