Lecture 5: Degree Adverbs

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Learning outcomes

• identify degree adverbs in context
• use degree adverbs with adjectives and adverbs
• avoid over-intensification errors

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What are degree adverbs?

• Degree adverbs indicate intensity/extent.

• very, quite, too, so, almost, nearly, hardly, completely, totally

• “The room is very clean.”
• “She was almost late.”
• “The task is too difficult.”

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Position guide

• usually before adjective/adverb:
  • “very smart”, “quite slowly”
• with verbs in fixed expressions:
  • “I nearly missed the train.”

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Exam hints and traps

• too often implies excess/problem, not just high degree.
• hardly means “almost not”, not “hard”.
• very usually does not modify strong absolute adjectives in strict formal usage (very perfect is awkward).

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Quick practice

1. Fill blank: “The soup is ___ hot to drink.” (too/very)
2. Fill blank: “He ___ finished on time.” (nearly/recently)
3. Choose better:
   • “absolutely impossible”
   • “very impossible”

1. too
2. nearly
3. absolutely impossible