LESSON

LINK

Adverbs of degree
Oxford Living Grammar explains how grammar works and when to use it.
The exercises use real-life situations to practise grammar in context. This
lesson consolidates your students knowledge of using adverbs of degree
such as really and quite to describe places.

Lesson Length 30 mins

Aim 1. to review and practise uses and position of adverbs of degree quite, very,
really, fairly and pretty
2. to practise using adverbs of degree to describe places and situations.

Preparation You will need a copy of the following for each student:
Activity worksheet: Adverbs of degree (from Oxford Living Grammar Elementary page 113)
A collection of images of different kinds of places (cities, countryside, a restaurant, a
library, an airport, a school, etc.) to show the class at the start of the lesson.

1 LEAD-IN

Show the class a picture of a city. Can they describe the picture? Point out particular objects (e.g.
skyscrapers, motorway) and elicit the relevant vocabulary. If there are people in the picture, you could
use this as an opportunity to revise the present progressive (The man is wearing a suit. The woman is
talking on her phone.). Ask what they think the city is like: is it busy, crowded, peaceful, exciting? Ask
them for more adjectives and write them on the board, making a note of any synonyms and antonyms.
crowded = busy busy peaceful

Put the different pictures around the classroom with a blank sheet of paper next to each one (or do
this before the class). Give the students five minutes to go from picture to picture, writing at least one
adjective for each picture (they are not allowed to repeat adjectives). Give them help with vocabulary,
or let them use a dictionary if they want to.

At the end of the activity, take down the pieces of paper and do a vocabulary review. Add to the words
on the board, making corrections in spelling and usage if necessary. Check that the students can
pronounce the words correctly by modelling them and asking them to repeat.

2 Introduction to adverbs of degree

Choose one of the pictures and elicit a couple of sentences to describe it. Make sure that one uses an
adjective, and one a noun, e.g.:
The city is crowded.
There is a tall building in the centre.

Can they think of any words that can make crowded stronger? (very, really) Can they think of any to
make it weaker? (quite, pretty, fairly). If it comes up as a suggestion, point out that not very crowded
is the opposite of crowded, whereas quite, fairly and pretty just make it weaker. Use the picture to
elicit more sentences using these words and write them on the board (e.g. fairly busy, very old, quite
impressive, pretty modern). Tell the students that these words are called adverbs of degree, and are
used to make adjectives stronger or weaker.
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Can they add to the description of the building in the same way? (a very/really/fairly/pretty tall
building) Add this structure to the board:
a/an + very, really, etc. + adjective + noun
a

very

tall

building

Can they add more examples based on the picture?

Point out that with nouns, quite is used in a slightly different way. Add this structure to the board:
quite + a/an + adjective +
quite

tall

noun

building

Use the picture to encourage more sentences using this structure (e.g. quite a modern city, quite
a busy street).

3 Controlled practice

Ask the students where they work/go to college/school, etc. Do they like the place? Ask a couple of the
more confident students to describe the places they work in a few sentences, using the structures just
discussed if possible.

Hand out Activity worksheet: Adverbs of degree. Tell the students to read the interview and complete
the exercise. Get them to check their answers with a partner, then go through them as a class to make
sure everyone has the right answers.
ANSWERS quite a friendly place; quite a lot of cafes; very nice; quite a lot of famous people;
fairly close; quite expensive; really busy; pretty hard; very early

4 Speaking activity: interviews

Put the students into pairs or groups, depending on the size of the class. They will take turns being
the journalist and the person interviewed. Give them a few minutes to write questions or prepare
descriptions of a place of their choice (where they work, study, live, a place theyve been on holiday,
etc.), helping with vocabulary when necessary. Monitor the students during the activity and remind
them to swap roles. At the end of the interviews, ask some of the students to report back to the class
the things their partner told them.

HOMEWORK
Ask the students to write about a place they know well, using the structures and vocabulary
from the lesson.

EXTRA HELP
Do your students need more help with using adverbs of degree?: Direct them to Unit 28 in
Oxford Living Grammar Elementary.

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LESSON
LINK

Activity worksheet: Adverbs of degree

An interview in central London

A journalist is interviewing people who work in central London. Add the adverbs in brackets in
the order in which you see them.

WOMAN You work in a travel agents at Oxford Circus. Whats it like?

MAN

(pretty, really)
pretty

really

Well, its / busy, of course, but I / like this part of London.

WOMAN Why is that?

MAN

(quite, quite, very)

First of all, its a friendly place, in fact. For example, there are a lot of cafs where people
go with colleagues for coffee, lunch, etc. Thats nice.

WOMAN (quite, fairly)

And I suppose you see a lot of famous people.
The headquarters building of the BBC is close to
Oxford Circus.

MAN (quite)
Yes, but Im more interested in the shops.
Theyre expensive, but you can get any new CD
or DVD immediately!

WOMAN So are there any problems here?

MAN

(really, pretty, very)

Yes. The underground is busy in the morning,
but if you drive to work, its hard to find a
parking space! Sometimes I arrive early at work,
but its still fairly busy.

WOMAN Well, thanks very much for your time.

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