11 min
DON'T SAY So, Very, Really - How to Use Advanced Intensifiers to Describe in English Go Natural English Podcast | Listening & Speaking Lessons
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- Language Learning
Intensifiers -- Americans love to sound exciting and interesting by using intensifiers. Yes, they can be overused, but I notice that many English learners don’t use them at all! The English students I have who DO use them sound much more natural and native-like.
Intensifiers you probably already know include:
So
Really
Very
And also we can use more interesting words instead of simply re-using these 3 basic words over and over.
Very big = enormous
Very small = tiny
Very smart = brilliant
Very bad = awful, horrible, dreadful
Very sure = certain
Very good = excellent, amazing, awesome
Very tasty = delicious
Examples:
Your house is very big → enormous My apartment is very small → tiny You are very smart → brilliant This movie is very bad → awful I’m very sure I left my keys on the table → I’m certain This book is very good → excellent This food is very tasty → delicious
We can also add more interesting intensifiers before the better vocabulary words:
Absolutely Awfully* Completely Exceptionally Particularly Quite Totally Dangerously highly
You’ll notice that often, certain intensifiers are paired with specific vocabulary words, for example:
Absolutely dreadful, horrible, delicious
Absolutely amazing, incredible, wonderful, fantastic, brilliant
Awfully good, interesting
Completely exhausted
Exceptionally intelligent
Particularly helpful
Quite certain
Totally crazy
Dangerously fast
Highly dangerous
Remember these pairings, called collocations! You’ll sound much more native-like. We can mix them up in different combinations too, but those are really common and easy to memorize and start using.
Examples
Your house is very big → absolutely enormous My apartment is very small → awfully tiny You are very smart → totally brilliant This movie is very bad → completely awful I’m very sure I left my keys on the table → I’m quite certain This book is very good → particularly excellent This food is very tasty → dangerously delicious Learn more with our complete Go Natural English course! Join the waitlist here: https://gonaturalenglish.com/prereg/
Intensifiers -- Americans love to sound exciting and interesting by using intensifiers. Yes, they can be overused, but I notice that many English learners don’t use them at all! The English students I have who DO use them sound much more natural and native-like.
Intensifiers you probably already know include:
So
Really
Very
And also we can use more interesting words instead of simply re-using these 3 basic words over and over.
Very big = enormous
Very small = tiny
Very smart = brilliant
Very bad = awful, horrible, dreadful
Very sure = certain
Very good = excellent, amazing, awesome
Very tasty = delicious
Examples:
Your house is very big → enormous My apartment is very small → tiny You are very smart → brilliant This movie is very bad → awful I’m very sure I left my keys on the table → I’m certain This book is very good → excellent This food is very tasty → delicious
We can also add more interesting intensifiers before the better vocabulary words:
Absolutely Awfully* Completely Exceptionally Particularly Quite Totally Dangerously highly
You’ll notice that often, certain intensifiers are paired with specific vocabulary words, for example:
Absolutely dreadful, horrible, delicious
Absolutely amazing, incredible, wonderful, fantastic, brilliant
Awfully good, interesting
Completely exhausted
Exceptionally intelligent
Particularly helpful
Quite certain
Totally crazy
Dangerously fast
Highly dangerous
Remember these pairings, called collocations! You’ll sound much more native-like. We can mix them up in different combinations too, but those are really common and easy to memorize and start using.
Examples
Your house is very big → absolutely enormous My apartment is very small → awfully tiny You are very smart → totally brilliant This movie is very bad → completely awful I’m very sure I left my keys on the table → I’m quite certain This book is very good → particularly excellent This food is very tasty → dangerously delicious Learn more with our complete Go Natural English course! Join the waitlist here: https://gonaturalenglish.com/prereg/
11 min