Intensifying modifiers in English

Do you know how to make words in English sound softer or stronger?

English speakers use modifiers like, “a bit”, “extremely” or “such” to change the “strength” of words they use. For example:

“That was such an amazing meal!”

Intensifying modifiers are useful because they let you exaggerate or soften the tone of what you want to say.

This free English grammar lesson shows you how to use intensity modifiers with verbs, nouns, adjectives and adverbs.

Understanding intensifying modifiers

When do we use intensifying modifiers?

We use these modifiers to change how strong or weak something sounds. They are common in everyday English and help us express emotion, emphasis, and exact meaning.

• To make something stronger: She’s absolutely certain.
• To make something softer: It’s a bit cold today.
• To exaggerate: That’s really, really funny!

What do they modify?

• Adjectives: – very tall, completely wrong
• Adverbs: – incredibly quickly, slightly awkwardly
• Verbs: – really love, totally forgot
• Nouns: – such a mess, a real problem

Different kinds of modifiers

Modifiers with Adjectives

Here are some common examples of intensity modifiers that form collocations with adjectives:

Structure: modifier + adjective

Example: She’s very tired.

Modifier	Example Sentence
very	It’s very cold.
really	She’s really excited.
a little	It’s a little uncomfortable.
extremely	He’s extremely angry.
absolutely	That’s absolutely perfect.
a bit	It’s a bit noisy here.
quite	She’s quite kind.
super	He’s super helpful.
really, really	That was really really hard.
kind of	It’s kind of hard to say.
so	It’s so easy!
pretty	I’m pretty disappointed.

Example Dialogue:

A: Is Julia coming to the party?
B: Yeah – she’s so excited.
A: She said it’s going to be super fun.
B: I’m only a bit interested, to be honest.

Modifiers with Adverbs

You can also use modifiers to weaken or strengthen adverbs:

Structure: modifier + adverb

Example: She runs incredibly fast.

Modifier	Example Sentence
very	He speaks very clearly.
really	She answered really slowly.
incredibly	They responded incredibly well.
slightly	He moved slightly awkwardly.
somewhat	She hesitated somewhat nervously.
not really	I’m not really sure about that.

Example Dialogue:

A: Did you hear what Jim was saying?
B: Yeah, but he talked incredibly fast!
A: I thought he explained things really clearly, actually.

Modifiers with comparative adjectives and adverbs

We can also use modifiers like much, way and so much when making comparisons between things.

A: That show is (so) much better than than the movie I saw last time.
B: Yeah, I agree. It’s way better, isn’t it?

A: My car goes so much faster now that I’ve changed the tyres.
B: Yeah, same here. Mine drives so much more smoothly, as well.

More examples of comparative modifiers:

• much more interesting (than..)
• so much cheaper (than..)
• much less expensive (than..)

Modifiers with Verbs

We often use modifiers with verbs to exaggerate (or soften) how we feel about things:

Structure: modifier + verb (especially mental/emotional verbs)

Example: I really like this song.

Modifier	Example Sentence
really	I really enjoy painting.
totally	They totally forgot.
absolutely	She absolutely loves cats.
kind of	I kind of agree with that.

Example Dialogue:

A: Do you like that new show?
B: I totally love it.
A: me too. I really enjoy the story, but I think the effects are awful.
B: Yeah, I kind of agree. It’s a bit of a shame, really, isn’t it?

Modifiers with Nouns

Structure: determiner + modifier + noun

Example: It was such a mess.

Modifier	Example Sentence
such	It was such a surprise!
what (a)	What an amazing view!
a real	That’s a real problem.
a complete	It’s a complete disaster.

Example Dialogue:

A: What happened at work?
B: It was such a disaster!
A: Everything went wrong.
B: Sounds like a complete nightmare.

Common mistakes with modifiers

Avoid these common mistakes

Incorrect modifier	Correction
very impossible	absolutely impossible
very extremely tired	extremely tired
super amazing report	very impressive report (formal)
a completely disaster	a complete disaster
such boring	It’s so boring / such a boring thing

Exercise 1 – Add a modifier

Complete the sentence with a suitable modifier:

1. That dress is _______ beautiful.
2. I feel _______ tired after the trip.
3. She was _______ happy to see us.
4. It’s _______ cold this morning.
5. We were _______ surprised by the result.
6. That movie was _______ boring.
7. He answered the question _______ clearly.
8. It’s _______ a shame they cancelled.

Exercise 2 – Choose the correct sentence

1. a) It was very perfect.
   b) It was absolutely perfect.
2. a) I real like coffee.
   b) I really like coffee.
3. a) That’s a real mess.
   b) That’s a really mess.
4. a) He reacted very angrily.
   b) He reacted extremely angrily.

Exercise 3 – Correct the mistake

1. I was very absolutely shocked.
2. She is slightly freezing.
3. He’s a real complete genius.
4. It’s kind of very hot today.

Answer key

Exercise 1

1. really / absolutely / very
2. completely / totally
3. incredibly / extremely
4. very / quite / a bit
5. really / totally / extremely
6. incredibly / really / totally
7. very / really / quite
8. such / really

Exercise 2

1. b) absolutely perfect
2. b) really like
3. a) a real mess
4. a) very angrily

Exercise 3

1. I was absolutely shocked.
2. She is absolutely freezing.
3. He’s a complete genius.
4. It’s very hot today.

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