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NounPhrases
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GrammarQuizzesAdverbialsAdverbsAdverbsforDegree

AdverbsforDegree
Expresstheintensityofanactionhowmuch?

DegreeAdverbUses
MODIFIYINGAVERB

MODIFIYINGANADVERB

MODIFIYINGANADJECTIVE

Modifiestheintensityoftheactiontellingus'how
much'.

Modifiestheintensityoftheadverb.

Modifiesqualityorcharacter.

Hetalksexcessivelyallthetime.

Hetalksextremelyfast.

Heisextremelytalkative.

Heratherloveshisaudiences.

Hecommunicatesratherwell.

Heisratherattractive.

Hehardlystopstobreathe.

Hegesturesveryquickly.

Hisratingsareveryhigh.

Logicsuggestsnotusingdegreemodifierswithabsolutewordsforexample,"He'sratherdead."Testthisbyusingratherbefore:absolute,entirely,eternal,fatal,final,
finite,identical,immortal,infinite,mortal,opposite,perfect,right,straight,opposite,orunique.

AdverbsforManner
WithSecondaryMeaningsforDegree

Mannervs.Degreevariationinmeaning
MANNER

Anadverbofmannerusuallyhasonemeaning.

Hewastrainedspeciallyforthedebate. speciallyinaparticularoruniquemanner.

Theybehavedterribly. terriblyinabadmanner

Hewasbehavingsuspiciously. suspiciouslyinamannercausingmistrust

TheyspokeEnglisheasily. easilyinaneasymanner,withoutproblems

Hetreatsusfairly. fairlyinamannerthatisequalorjust

HespeaksEnglishwell. goodinangoodmanner,competently

DEGREE

Adegreeadverbmayhaveasecondarymeaning.

Hewasespeciallygoodatdebating especiallyparticularly,extremely

I'mterriblysorry. terriblyvery,very

Hewassuspiciouslyquiet. suspiciouslyunusually

Heiseasilythebestspeaker. easilyclearly

Hecommunicatesfairlyfluently. fairlyadequately,sufficiently

Hewaswellrecommendedtous. wellhighly,toplevel

DegreeAdverbsintensityvs.completeness

INTENSITY

Somedegreeadverbsindicateintensityfromverymuchtoverylittle(ornone).

Heisextremelyexcitedabouthiswork.

Heissomewhatexcitedabouthiswork.

Heishardlyexcitedabouthiswork.

COMPLETENESS

Somedegreeadverbsindicatecompletenessfromverycompletetopartiallycomplete.

Heiscompletelydonewithhiswork.

Heisalmostdonewithhiswork.

Heispartlydonewithhiswork.

DegreeAdverbsothermeanings&expressions

UNIQUEMEANINGS

Somedegreeadverbstakeonnewmeanings,differentfromtheirmeaningswhenusedasadjectives.

Heiswonderfullyexcitedabouthiswork. creatively

Wearedeeplysaddenedtohearabouthisdeath. profoundly

Thehouseiseasilyaccessible. withoutdifficulty

Heishighlyregarded. toplevel

Itisvirtuallytroublefree. practically

He'sawfullymad. very

EXPRESSIONS

Otherdegreeadverbsareusedinexpressions.(Thesearelearnedovertime.)

Heisplain/deadwrong. completely"deadright"butnot"plainright"

Youaremightykind. extremely(nice,tall,smart,pleasedpositive)

Heisdamnrude. extremely (veryinformal)

It'sdownrightunfair. completely,totally

He'sreal/really/prettysmart. very

He'sajollygoodfellow./He'lljollywelldo. very

deep/deeply

DegreeAdverbs
APartialList

DegreeAdverbswithlySuffix
absolutely very

amazingly surprisingly

awfully very

barely negative

completely totally,allparts

considerably

dreadfully very

easily clearly,withoutdifficulties

enormously

entirely

especially

exceedingly

excessively

extensively very

extremely very

fairly

fantastically

fully

greatly

hardly notmuch

highly very

hugely

immensely

incredibly very

infinitely extremely

intensely very

largely mostly

literally

moderately

nearly

noticeably

particularly

partly

perfectly completely

positively

practically almostnearly

profoundly

purely

really

reasonably acceptably

relatively

remarkably

seriously alarmingdegree

simply

slightly

strikingly

strongly surely

sufficiently

supremely

surprisingly unexpecteddegree

suspiciously

terribly very

totally

tremendously very

truly

unbelievably

utterly

virtually

wonderfully

isalsoafocusingadverb.

literally(1)theprimaryorstrictmeaningofaword(2)wordforword(3)withoutexaggeration,actually(4)ineffect,verynearlyvirtually

Degreeadverbswithoutlysuffix
about

almost

altogether

downright

however

indeed

jolly

just

least

less

mighty

more

most

not

quite

rather

so

somewhat

still

too

very

verymuch

way far

well

asas

tooto...

so(that)

enough

(Huddleston5834)

AdverbsforDegree
ModifyingaVerb

Placement
BEFORETHEVERB

BETWEENAUXILIARYANDMAINVERB

AFTERTHEVERB

Placethedegreeadverbbeforetheverb.

Thisusualplacementisaftertheauxiliaryverbsand
beforethemainverb.

Longerexpressiontendtobeplacedaftertheverb.

Hetotallyenjoysgivingspeeches.

Heistotallyenjoyinggivingspeeches.

Heenjoysgivingspeechesverymuch.

adverbverbobject

auxadverbverbobject

verbobjectadverb

He absolutely

enjoysgivingspeeches.

Hewill absolutely
speech.

enjoygivinga

Heenjoysgivingspeeches verymuch

QualifyingWordfor"Degree"

SENTENCE

He____enjoyspublicspeaking. verb

DEGREE

SYNONYMS

VERY, VERY MUCH

absolutely,completely,enormously,excessively,fully,
greatly,highly,hugely,immensely,infinitelyintensely,
profoundly,totally,tremendously,utterly

VERY MUCH

moderately,noticeably,positively,really,simply,truly,
verymuch

NOT MUCH

hardly,barely,not(doesn't)

CompletenessWordforDegree

SENTENCE

We____agree. verb

DEGREE

COMPLETELY

SYNONYMS

completely,strongly,perfectly,totally,entirely,largely,
positively,simply

positively,simply

AdverbsforDegree
ModifyinganAdverb

PlacementModifyingAdverbs

PARTLY

forthemostpart,almost,nearly,partly,kindof,
somewhat,hardly,

NOT

hardly,barely,not(don't)

BEFORETHEADVERB

Placetheadverbbeforetheadverb.

Thepoliticianspeaksratherpersuasively.

persuasively(adv.)inamannerthatmakesotherpeoplebelievesomethingordowhatyouask

BEFOREANDAFTER

Placelongerexpressionsaftertheadverb.Seeso,too,enoughbelow.

ThispoliticianspeaksaspersuasivelyasChurchill.
Thispoliticianspeakssopersuasivelythateveryonefollowshim.
*Thispoliticianspeakstoopersuasivelytobelieve.
Thispoliticianspeakspersuasivelyenoughtobelieve.

Excessive:(1)wedon'tbelievehim,or(2)wehaveneverheardanyonelikehimbeforeunprecedented.

WordUsefor"Degree"
SENTENCE

Themanspeaks awfully
adverb

DEGREE

persuasively.

SYNONYMS

EXCESSIVELY

awfully,dreadfully,exceedingly,incredibly,terribly,too,
excessively

VERY

extremely,really,remarkably,surprisingly,truly,
downright,mighty,quite,rather,so,very,wonderfully

SOMEWHAT

moderately,relatively,simply,somewhat

NOT VERY

fairly,slightly,un(not)

Negatives
INTENSIVEADVERB

NEGATIVEVERB

NEGATIVEADVERB

Givesacompliment.

Suggestsaproblem.

Notesaproblem.

Hespeaksverywell.

Hedoesn'tspeakverywell.

Hespeaksbadly.

Theyworkverywelltogether.

AdverbsforDegree
ModifyingAdjectives

PlacementModifyingAdjectives

Theydon'tworkverywelltogether.

Theyworkpoorlytogether.

BEFORE

Placetheadverbbeforetheadjective.

Thespeechwasabsolutelyamazing.

BEFOREANDAFTER

Placelongerexpressionsaftertheadjective.Seeso,too,enoughbelow.

HisspeechwasasamazingasChurchill's. (comparison)
Hisspeechwassoamazingthateveryonecheered.
Hisspeechwastoofantastictobelieve.
Hisspeechwasmoderateenoughtobelieve.

WordUsefor"Degree"Howmuch?

SENTENCE

Thedesignis enormously

DEGREE

complex. adjective

SYNONYMS

EXTREMELY

awfully,dreadfully,enormously,exceedingly,extremely,
incredibly,terribly,tremendously,too,excessively

VERY

amazingly,really,remarkably,surprisingly,truly,
downright,mighty,quite,rather,so,very,wonderfully

SOMEWHAT

moderately,relatively,simply,somewhat,sufficiently

NOT VERY

barely,fairly,slightly,un(not),hardly

WordUsefor"Completeness"Howcomplete?
SENTENCE

Theworkis completely

DEGREE

done. adjective

SYNONYMS

COMPLETELY

completely,thoroughly,practically,almost,nearly

PARTLY

partly,partially,kindof,about,somewhat,relatively,

NOT

hardly,barely,not(un)

AnAmbiguousModifierPlacement
AMBIGUOUSMODIFIER(UNCLEAR)

POSSIBLEMEANINGS

Sometimesamodifiercanmodifyoneoftwowords,butitsnotclearwhichone.

Inoneinterpretationitcouldmodifytheverb.Inanotheritcouldmodifythe
object.Ifcontextdoesnotclarifythemeaning,thenreorderthewords.

Hebelievesabsolutelyeverythingyoutellhim. Whichworddoes

absolutelymodify?
Themodifiercouldmodifywordbeforeorafterit.Themeaningchangesonlyslightly.

1)Heabsolutelybelieveseverythingyoutellhim. absolutely modifies

believes (V)
2)Hebelievesabsolutelyeverythingyoutellhim. absolutelymodifies
every thing(adjdet.)

ambiguous(Adj)somethingthatisunclear,confusing,ornotcertain,especiallybecauseitcanbeunderstoodinmorethanoneway

SpecialAdverbs
So/Very,Too,Enough

Usingtoo,veryandenough
SO/VERY

TOO

ENOUGH

Intensive

Excessive(negativeaproblem)

Adequate(positivenoproblem)

Hespeaksso/veryslowly. (Adv)

Hespeakstooslowly. (Adv) notgood!

Hespeaksslowlyenough. (Adv) good!

Heisso/verycareful. (Adj)

Heistoocareful. (Adj) notgood!

Heiscarefulenough. (Adj) good!

Relatedpages:Too/Enough+Infin,So&Suchthat,"So"Phrases

Expressions
SOTHAT

TOOTO

ENOUGHTO

Somayincludeathatclauseplacedafterthe
adjectiveoradverb.

Toomayincludeaforortoclausethatisplacedafter
theadjectiveoradverb.

Enoughmayincludeaforortoclausethatisplaced
aftertheadjectiveoradverb.

HespeakssofastthatIcan'tunderstand
him. (Adv)

Hespeakstoofastformetounderstand.

Hespeaksslowlyenoughformeto
understand. (Adv)

Heissointerestingthatwelovetolistento
him. (Adv)

Hespeakstoofasttounderstand.

Heissmartenoughtodothejob. (Adj)

Negatives
NOTSO/VERY

NOTTOO

NOTENOUGH

Hedoesn'tworkveryhard. (problem)

Hedoesn'tworktoohard. (noproblem)

Hedoesn'tworkhardenough. (problem)

Heisn'tsosmart. (aproblem)

Heisn'ttoosmart. (maybeaproblem)

Heisn'tsmartenough. (aproblem)

CommonMistakes
ErrorsandSolutions

ErrorandSolution
ERROR

*Heearnstoomuchmoney.
Howcanmoney(agoodthing)beexcessive?

*Sheistoobeautiful.(negativemeaning)

Howcanbeauty(agoodthing)beexcessive?

~WhenhereturnedmylostiPhonetome,Iliterallycouldhavekissedhisfeet.
Thisisanadditionalmeaningof"literally".PopQ"Literally"

*She'saratheruniquesinger.
*He'sratherdead.
PopQ"RatherUnique"

SOLUTION

Heearnssomuchmoney.
Heearnstoomuchmoneytopaymiddleclasstaxrates.
Qualifyhowthemoney(agoodthing)canbeexcessive.

Sheissobeautiful.
Sheistoobeautifulforwords.Sheisbeautiful.
Qualifyhowherbeauty(agoodthing)canbeexcessive.

WhenhereturnedmylostiPhonetome,Inearlykissedhisfeet.
Primarily, literallymeans(1) wordforword however,itcanalsomean figuratively,virtually,nearly,ineffect.Seedictionaryliterally.

She'sauniquesinger./She'sadistinctivesinger.
He'sdead.
Notincorrect,butlogicsuggestsnotusingdegreemodifierswithabsolutewords.Forexample,itisconfusingtouseratherbefore:absolute,
dead,entirely,eternal,fatal,final,finite,identical,immortal,infinite,mortal,opposite,perfect,right,straight,orunique.

*incorrectusage/~questionableusage(usageintransition)

Resources
Burchfield,R.W.,andH.W.Fowler."literally."Fowler'sModernEnglishUsage.Oxford:OxfordUP,2004.Print.
Garner,BryanA."literally."Garner'sModernAmericanUsage.3rded.NewYork:OxfordUniversityPress,2009.Print.
Huddleston,RodneyD.,andGeoffreyK.Pullum.TheCambridgeGrammaroftheEnglishLanguage.Cambridge,UK:CambridgeUP,2002.Print.
"literally."MerriamWebster'sDictionaryofEnglishUsage.Springfield,MA:MerriamWebster,1994.Print.

Practice
SucceedingbyDegree

Completethesentencewithadegreeadverb.
1.Selecttheresponsefromthelistthatbestcompletesthesentence.
2.Compareyourresponsetothefeedbackbyclickingthe"check"button.

1.
PresidentObamacommunicates

well.

Feedback1

Check1

2.
Hespeaks

confidently.

Feedback2

Check2

3.
Hiscommunicationskillsare

Feedback3

good.

Check3

4.
Hecangettothepointofsomething

fast.

Feedback4

Check4

5.
Herelatestothepeopleinhisaudience

Feedback5

Check5

well.

6.
ThePresidenthas

difficultjob.

Feedback6

Check6

7.
ThemembersofCongress

together.

Feedback7

Check7

8.
A"dividedcountry"makesthejob

muchmoredifficult.

Feedback8

Check8

9.
PresidentObamais

regardedbyothersenators. beregarded(V)berespected

Feedback9

Check9

10.
Theoppositionagreeswithhim

Feedback10

Check10

Check110

Practice2
EmphasizingYourViewpoint

Reset

Decidewhichdegreeadverbscancompletethesentence.
1.Selectoneormoreoptions.(Usagevariesdependingonlocalspeechpatterns.)
2.Compareyourresponsetothefeedbackbyclickingthe"check"or"check1116"button.

11.
Thesesportsshoesare

perfect.

very

so

simply

completely

terrifically

Feedback11

Check11

12.

strongly

awfully

We

agreewithyou.

positively

very

simply

completely

rather

strongly

Feedback12

Check12

13.
Theshoedesignis

hightech.

incredibly

greatly

extremely

too

highly

Feedback13

unbelievably

Check13

14.
Theseshoesfeel

comfortable.

easily

amazingly

really

quite

enormously

enough

Feedback14

Check14

15.
Welookedovereachshoe

closely.


rather

highly

hugely

quite

largely

very

Feedback15

Check15

16.
Eachofusboughtapairofshoesafterwewere

largely

greatly

too

thoroughly

Feedback16

Check16

absolutely

completely

finishedlookingatthem.

Check1116

Practice3
TheProsandConsofInternships

Reset

ReadtheContext
Findingjobscontinuestobedifficultforyoungpeoplegraduatingfromcollege.Thejobmarkethasbeenslowtoimprove.Thosepeoplewhodo
find jobs have to be clever to get into a company for an interview. Many are happy to take nonpaying internships in order to get work
experience.Aftertheinternship,aninternhopestobehiredoratleastberecommendedforanotherjob.

Theintern'spresenceintheofficecanbehelpful.Inagoodinternship,aninternistreatedwithrespect,doesawidevarietyoftasks,andlearns
job skills. In a bad internship, an intern is treated rudely, asked to do ordinary tasks, and receives little compensation. After the internship is
over,theinternmayormaynotbeinabetterpositiontofindapayingjob.

prosandcons(expr.)thegoodandbadaspectspro"for",con"against"
gethired(getpassive)tosuccessfullymanagetobeofferedaregular,payingjob
internship(N)ajobthatlastsforashorttime,thatsomeone,especiallyastudent,doesinordertogainexperience
becompensated(V)paid,rewarded

Decideonthebestlocationtoaddthegivendegreeadverb(s)tothesentence.
1.Editthesentenceinthetextbox.
2.Compareyoureditwiththefeedbackbyclickingthe"check"button.

17.
Findingjobscontinuestobedifficultforyoungpeoplegraduatingfromcollege.
ADD:extremely

Edit17

Findingjobscontinuestobedifficultforyoungpeoplegraduatingfromcollege.

Feedback17

Check17

18.
Thejobmarkethasbeenslowtoimprove.
ADD:incredibly

Edit18

Thejobmarkethasbeenslowtoimprove.

Feedback18

Check18

19.
Thosepeoplewhodofindjobshavetobeclevertogetintoacompanyforaninterview.
ADD:remarkably

Edit19

Thosepeoplewhodofindjobshavetobeclevertogetintoacompanyforaninterview.

Feedback19

Check19

20.
Manyarehappytotakenonpayinginternshipsinordertogetworkexperience.
ADD:perfectly

Edit20

Manyarehappytotakenonpayinginternshipsinordertogetworkexperience.

Feedback20

Check20

21.
Aftertheinternship,aninternhopestobehiredoratleastberecommendedforanotherjob.
ADD:well

Edit21

Aftertheinternship,aninternhopestobehiredoratleastberecommendedforanotherjob.

Feedback21

Check21

22.

Theintern'spresenceintheofficecanbehelpful.
ADD:tremendously

Edit22

Theintern'spresenceintheofficecanbehelpful.

Feedback22

Check22

23.
Inagoodinternship,aninternistreatedwithrespect,doesawidevarietyoftasks,andlearnsusefuljobskills.
ADD:highly

Edit23

Inagoodinternship,aninternistreatedwithrespect,doesawidevarietyoftasks,andgainslearnsusefuljobskills.

Feedback23

Check23

24.
Inabadinternship,aninternistreatedrudely,askedtodoordinarytasks,andreceiveslittlecompensation.
ADD:somewhat,rather,very

Edit24

Inabadinternship,aninternistreatedrudely,askedtodoordinarytasks,andisreceiveslittlecompensation.

Feedback24

Check24

25.
Aftertheinternshipisover,theinternmayormaynotbeinabetterpositiontofindapayingjob.
ADD:verymuch,well

Edit25

Aftertheinternshipisover,theinternmayormaynotbeinabetterpositiontofindapayingjob.

Feedback25

Check25

Check1725

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JulieSevastopoulos(contact)ESL/ELL/TEFLEnglishGrammarReference/ResourcePractices&ExercisesPaloAlto,CaliforniaUSA23Mar2016
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