Intensifiers and Downtoners
Adjust strength of meaning.
Examples
- quite good
- fairly easy
- utterly ridiculous
Key rules
- Intensifiers: very, extremely, highly, deeply
- Downtoners: slightly, fairly, rather, somewhat, a bit
- Collocations matter: deeply concerned, highly unlikely
- Fairly is positive, rather is often negative
Common mistakes
- Very much tired → Very tired
- I am much happy → I am very happy
💡 Tip: Learn which adverb goes with which adjective.