Degree Adverbs

📝 Important Concepts in English Adjectives: Degree Adverbs

Degree adverbs are special words that help us explain how much or to what extent something is true. They give us more information about the intensity of adjectives, verbs, or other adverbs. Think of them as volume controls for your descriptions! 🔊

1. What are Degree Adverbs? 🤔

• Definition: Degree adverbs are words or sets of words that modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs to give information about the extent or degree of something.
• Function: They answer the question “how much?”.
• Examples: Some common degree adverbs include completely, fairly, quite, rather, slightly, too, totally, very much, very, extremely, absolutely, nearly, entirely, less, mildly, most, thoroughly, somewhat, excessively, much.

2. Gradable vs. Non-Gradable Adjectives 📈🛑

Adjectives can be categorised based on whether their quality can be measured in degrees:

• Gradable Adjectives: These adjectives describe qualities that can have different levels or intensities. You can make them weaker or stronger.
  • Common Modifiers: We use adverbs like ‘very’ and ’extremely’ with gradable adjectives.
  • Examples:
    • “It is very cold.” 🥶
    • “It is extremely cold.” ❄️
    • “extremely effective”
    • “extremely difficult”
    • “hugely entertaining”
    • “hugely successful”
• Non-Gradable Adjectives (Absolute Adjectives): These adjectives express an absolute quality and cannot be made weaker or stronger. If something is “finished,” it’s finished; there are no degrees of “finished”.
  • Common Modifiers: We use adverbs like ‘absolutely’ and ‘completely’ with non-gradable adjectives. ‘Simply’ also goes with non-gradable adjectives.
  • Examples:
    • “The project is finished.” ✅ (You can’t say “a bit finished” or “completely finished” in the sense of adding degree to an already absolute state).
    • “absolutely clear”
    • “absolutely sure”
    • “simply awful”
    • “simply terrible”

3. Special Usage of ‘Very’ and ‘Too’ 🤔

• ‘Very’ for High Degree: We use ‘very’ before an adjective or adverb to refer to a high degree.
  • Example: “The food was very good.” 👍
• ‘Too’ for More Than Enough: We use ’too’ when we mean more than enough, or more than what is wanted or needed. It often implies a negative consequence.
  • Example: “It is too hot to stay in this room.” 🔥 (Implies it’s unbearably hot)
• Informal Context: In formal spoken English, especially in negative sentences, ’too’ can sometimes mean roughly the same as ‘very’.
  • Example: “I am not too bothered about who fails.” (Can also be “I am not very bothered”)

4. Distinguishing ‘Very’ and ‘Very Much’ ⚠️

These two are often confused, but they have specific rules:

• ‘Very’ with Verbs: We do not use ‘very’ directly before verbs.
  • ❌ “I very agree with your decision.”
• ‘Very Much’ with Verbs: We can use ‘very much’ before some verbs to emphasize how we feel about things.
  • Common Verbs: These include verbs like agree, doubt, fear, hope, like, want, admire, appreciate, enjoy, regret.
  • Example: “I very much agree with your decision.” ✅
  • Example: “We very much enjoyed having you stay with us.” 🎉
• ‘Very’ with Participle Adjectives: We use ‘very’ (but not ‘very much’) before participle adjectives (adjectives usually ending in “-ing” or “-ed”).
  • Example: “I was very disturbed to hear the news.” 😟
  • Example: “It is very disappointing.” 😔
• ‘Very Much’ in Passive Voice: We use ‘very much’ (but not ‘very’) before a past participle which is part of a passive voice construction.
  • Example: “The new highway was very much needed.” 🛣️
  • ❌ “The new highway was very needed.”

5. The Curious Case of ‘Quite’ 🤔

The adverb ‘quite’ has two different meanings depending on how it’s used:

• Meaning 1: “Fairly” or “A particular degree but not very”.
  • Example: “I was quite satisfied with the result.” (Meaning: fairly satisfied)
• Meaning 2: “Completely” or “A large degree/A lot”.
  • This meaning is used when ‘quite’ modifies a non-gradable (absolute) adjective.
  • Example: “You are quite wrong.” (Meaning: completely wrong)
  • Example: “Are you quite sure?” (Meaning: totally sure)

✍️ Practice Questions

1. Identify the degree adverb and the type of adjective it modifies in the following sentence: “The movie was hugely successful.” 🎬
2. Choose the correct option (‘very’ or ‘very much’) and explain why: a) I ______ appreciate your help. 🙏 b) The news was ______ shocking. 😱
3. Explain the difference in meaning of ‘quite’ in these two sentences: a) The water was quite cold. b) The answer was quite incorrect.

✅ Answers

1. “The movie was hugely successful.” 🎬
   • Degree Adverb: hugely
   • Type of Adjective: successful is a gradable adjective, indicating that there can be different levels of success (e.g., a little successful, very successful, hugely successful).
2. a) I very much appreciate your help. 🙏
   • Explanation: Appreciate is a verb that expresses feeling. According to the sources, we use very much (not very) before such verbs to emphasize feelings. b) The news was very shocking. 😱
   • Explanation: Shocking is a participle adjective (ending in -ing). We use very (not very much) before participle adjectives.
3. a) The water was quite cold.
   • Meaning: Here, ‘quite’ means “fairly” or “a particular degree but not very”. It suggests the water was moderately cold, but not extremely cold. b) The answer was quite incorrect.
   • Meaning: Here, incorrect is a non-gradable (absolute) adjective. When ‘quite’ modifies a non-gradable adjective, it means “completely” or “totally”. It implies the answer was 100% wrong.