October 14, 2015
mitigators
Mitigators are the opposite of intensifiers. When we want to make an adjective less strong we use these words:
fairly - rather - quite
By the end of the day we were rather tired.
The film wasn’t great but it was quite exciting.
and in informal English: pretty
We had a pretty good time at the party.
We call these words mitigators.
| Warning |
|---|
| quite |
|
When we use quite with a strong adjective it means the same as absolutely: The food was quite awful. = The food was absolutely awful. |
Mitigators with comparatives:
We use these words and phrases as mitigators:
a bit - just a bit - a little - a little bit - just a little bit - rather - slightly
She’s a bit younger than I am.
It takes two hours on the train but it is a little bit longer by road
This one is rather bigger.
We use slightly and rather as mitigators with comparative adjectives in front of a noun:
This is a slightly more expensive model than that.
This is rather bigger one than that.
Adjectives as intensifiers:
We use some adjectives as intensifiers:
absolute
total - complete
utter - perfect
real
We say:
He’s a complete idiot.
They were talking utter nonsense.
… but we do not say:
The idiot was complete.The nonsense they were talking was utter.
Task 1
Task 2
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Comments
Hello The LearnEnglish Team,
I have doubt regarding one sentence presented as an example on last section(Adjective/intensifier).
- Fortunately none of the passengers was seriously hurt.
Why are we using a singular verb 'was' instead of 'were' in this sentence ? As per my understanding, if none is followed by singular noun we take singular verb, but here passengers is plural, isn't it ?
Thanks,
Rajneesh
Hello Rajneesh Kumar,
'none of' + a plural noun can take either a singular or plural verb. The plural form is probably more common and is more informal than the singular one, but both are considered correct.
Best wishes,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
It is rather difficult to recall sentences in mitigator 1 in order to fill up questions at mitigator 2.
Hi, I don't understand the next question and its answer:
Have I met Maria's new boyfriend?
No, but I've seen him and he's drop-dead gorgeous.
Could some educator explain it? Please!
Hello Dalita,
'Drop dead gorgeous' is an idiomatic expression means 'extremely beautiful'. It is an informal expression.
Best wishes,
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Sir,
I hope you don't mind me asking this question here. In the article, noun modifiers, I read about joining two or more nouns to show that one is part of another. So, can we say:
'Bring me three glass water'
or should we say:
'Bring me three glasses of water'
As water is technically not a part of those glasses.
Are there any specific category of nouns that we should not combine like this?
Hello adtyagrwl3,
The second sentence is correct.
We can join, for example, 'water' and 'glasses' but not to mean glasses with water in them. What we can say is 'water glasses' when we mean glasses that are used with water rather than something else. Similarly we can say 'wine glasses', 'champagne glasses', 'coffee cup' etc.
Best wishes,
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Which adjectives are suitable for intensifiers(utterly and amazingly)
Is this sentence correct(was a universally popular)would it be more suitable to say (an universally popular)?
Hello Mayes2112013,
'Utterly' is used with extreme/limit adjectives while 'amazingly' is used with regular/gradable adjectives. Thus we would say:
utterly fantastic/gorgeous/freezing/terrifying
amazingly good/beautiful/cold/frightening
We us 'a' and 'an' according to the sound of the next word, not the spelling. THe first sound in 'university' is not a vowel sound, it is /j/ and so 'a' is appropriate.
Best wishes,
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi, I don't understand the next question and its answer. It appear in task of intensifiers: Have I met Maria's new boyfriend? No, but I've seen him and he's drop-dead gorgeous. I think the subject in the question should be 'you' and the answer must be 'yes' and it's not necessary 'but'. Please, Proffessor Peter, Could you help me with this item?
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