Flashcard - Unit 7

Unit 7: Intensifying and Softening Adverbs

Intensifying adverbs make adjectives and verbs stronger: blatantly obvious, downright rude, utterly ridiculous, absolutely delighted, thoroughly enjoy. Softening adverbs reduce strength: slightly different, mildly surprised, faintly ridiculous. Advanced English often prefers specific collocations rather than using very. Examples include highly recommended, greatly appreciate, strongly influence, and completely/totally/entirely different.

Image Placeholder: Infographic comparing weak, neutral and strong adverbs with example collocations.

Some combinations are fixed and sound natural, while others do not. For example, we say greatly appreciated and strongly influenced. We also use absolutely with strong adjectives such as delighted, fantastic, impossible and ridiculous.

Exercises

1. Match the pairs.
  1. blatantly + ?
  2. spotlessly + ?
  3. thoroughly + ?
  4. wildly + ?
  5. highly + ?
  6. mildly + ?
  7. absolutely + ?
  8. downright + ?
2. Complete with a suitable adverb.
  1. _____ delighted
  2. _____ clean
  3. _____ ashamed
  4. _____ recommended
  5. _____ different
  6. _____ surprised
  7. _____ inaccurate
  8. _____ rude
3. Choose the natural collocation.
  1. greatly/spotlessly appreciate
  2. strongly/mildly influence
  3. utterly/highly absurd
  4. dead/totally easy
  5. loosely/utterly based on
  6. faintly/completely ridiculous
  7. highly/wildly educated
  8. absolutely/slightly delighted
4. Rewrite using a stronger expression.
  1. very obvious
  2. very clean
  3. very ashamed
  4. very inaccurate
  5. very happy
  6. very silly
  7. very different
  8. very easy
5. Error correction.
  1. highly influence
  2. strongly appreciated
  3. absolutely happy
  4. spotlessly obvious
  5. wildly clean
  6. slightly delighted
  7. utterly educated
  8. greatly ridiculous
6. Write original sentences.
  1. blatantly obvious
  2. spotlessly clean
  3. thoroughly enjoy
  4. highly recommended
  5. mildly surprised
  6. faintly ridiculous
  7. totally different
  8. absolutely delighted

Further Practice

Remember that advanced collocations create a more natural and precise style. Use strong adverbs with strong adjectives and softer adverbs when you want to sound cautious or less direct.

Image Placeholder: Dialogue scene showing different levels of certainty and intensity.

Exercises

1. Gap fill.
  1. _____ appreciated your help.
  2. _____ influenced by advertising.
  3. _____ educated workforce.
  4. _____ different opinion.
  5. _____ based on a true story.
  6. _____ easy exam.
  7. _____ exaggerated report.
  8. _____ absurd claim.
2. Categorise as Intensifying or Softening.
  1. slightly
  2. mildly
  3. utterly
  4. absolutely
  5. faintly
  6. highly
  7. greatly
  8. thoroughly
3. Multiple choice.
  1. highly/utterly recommended
  2. slightly/absolutely delighted
  3. strongly/spotlessly influenced
  4. mildly/wildly surprised
  5. loosely/dead educated
  6. greatly/faintly appreciate
  7. entirely/downright based on
  8. utterly/highly ridiculous
4. Replace ‘very’.
  1. very recommended
  2. very ashamed
  3. very clean
  4. very inaccurate
  5. very easy
  6. very different
  7. very happy
  8. very silly
5. Sentence transformation.
  1. The room was clean.
  2. I enjoyed the concert.
  3. She was surprised.
  4. The facts were inaccurate.
  5. The guidebook was recommended.
  6. The ideas were different.
  7. His behaviour was rude.
  8. The story was exaggerated.
6. Short answers.
  1. Give a collocation with highly.
  2. Give a collocation with utterly.
  3. Give a collocation with greatly.
  4. Give a collocation with strongly.
  5. Give a collocation with mildly.
  6. Give a collocation with slightly.
  7. Give a collocation with thoroughly.
  8. Give a collocation with absolutely.

Unit 7 Consolidation

Use precise collocations to show degree, attitude and accuracy. Native-like English depends heavily on these preferred combinations.

Image Placeholder: Scale from weak to strong intensity with example adverbs and adjectives.

Exercises

1. Complete the collocation.
  1. blatantly _____
  2. downright _____
  3. spotlessly _____
  4. thoroughly _____
  5. wildly _____
  6. highly _____
  7. greatly _____
  8. absolutely _____
2. Find the odd one out.
  1. utterly ridiculous / utterly absurd / utterly educated
  2. highly educated / highly recommended / highly ashamed
  3. slightly different / mildly surprised / slightly delighted
  4. strongly influenced / greatly appreciated / strongly clean
  5. dead easy / wildly exaggerated / dead educated
  6. faintly ridiculous / loosely based on / faintly recommended
  7. totally different / entirely different / totally ashamed
  8. absolutely delighted / absolutely impossible / absolutely average
3. Rewrite formally.
  1. very good book
  2. really silly idea
  3. very grateful
  4. really influenced
  5. very happy
  6. very different
  7. very easy
  8. very clean room
4. Context choice.
  1. Which fits a recommendation?
  2. Which fits gratitude?
  3. Which fits influence?
  4. Which fits happiness?
  5. Which fits a film adaptation?
  6. Which fits a small reaction?
  7. Which fits an extreme judgment?
  8. Which fits a clean hotel room?
5. Create collocations from the word bank.

obvious, delighted, different, ashamed, educated, appreciate, influence, ridiculous

  1. _____ obvious
  2. _____ delighted
  3. _____ different
  4. _____ ashamed
  5. _____ educated
  6. _____ appreciate
  7. _____ influence
  8. _____ ridiculous
6. Writing challenge.
  1. Use highly recommended.
  2. Use strongly influenced.
  3. Use greatly appreciate.
  4. Use absolutely delighted.
  5. Use mildly surprised.
  6. Use spotlessly clean.
  7. Use wildly inaccurate.
  8. Use loosely based on.
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