Intensifying adverbs: emphasisers,

amplifiers, downtoners
Intensifying adverbs have some unique characteristics. They are common, especially in spoken
language and their mastery can significantly enhance our learners' communicative powers.

A word of warning:

Any search of the web for these things will produce some misleading results. In many cases, they
will be wrongly (or even not) classified, wrongly described or not really adverbs at all. The
following attempts to avoid these pitfalls.

The reason for the confusion is often a naïve understanding of the term intensifier which, at first
sight, seems to imply only making things stronger (because that's what it means in a non-technical
sense).

This is, however, not a non-technical area.

Intensifying adverbs do not always increase the effect of item they modify, as a careless
understanding of the term would suggest.

They can also suggest a low degree (downtoning) or an approximate degree. They are all analysed
here as intensifying adverbs because they all affect the intensity of what is said or written.

This is not a universally accepted definition because some sources will stick to the idea that an
intensifier must, by definition, make the modified element stronger or more intense. Compare, for
example:

That is somewhat trivial

which reduces the effect of the adjective with

That is extremely trivial

which enhances the effect of the adjective but, at the same time, makes the subject less, not more,
important. Replacing trivial with important results in the reverse.

Many of these are adverbs derived from intensifying adjectives which perform a similar role (for
more, see the guide to intensifying adjectives, linked below). Some, however, do not and the
limiting adjectives certain and particular as in, e.g.:

A certain difference of opinion arose

That particular student was quite wrong

are used adverbially as emphasisers as in:

That is certainly the wrong approach

This is particularly difficult to do

Three types

There are these three sorts of intensifying adverbs. In these all the examples are of adverbs
modifying adjectives to keep things simple but, as we shall shortly see, there are many other items
that they can modify:

1. Amplifiers increase the strength of the item modified

a. Maximisers denoting the extreme end of a scale:
b. that is completely wrong
c. you are totally mistaken
d. Boosters which enhance the strength of the item:
e. you are deeply mistaken
f. that is severely limited
2. Emphasisers usually express the speaker's point of view, making it clear that something is
to be considered emphatic and stressed.
3.
4. that is plainly untrue
5. she's simply wonderful
6. she is obviously uncertain
7. that's evidently better
8. Downtoners diminish the strength of the item they modify
9. They come in three shades:
a. compromisers (a small group not considered here further which imply the speaker
is not entirely certain)
b. that's quite nice
c. he's sort of friendly
d. diminishers and minimisers which reduce the effect of the item they modify
e. that's mildly interesting
f. he's slightly irritating
g. it's just possible
h. that is not in the least entertaining
i. this is merely technical
j. (minimisers are generally negative in sense)
k. approximators which suggest that the quality is close but not in fact quite there
l. that's practically perfect
m. but not perfect
n. she's almost approachable
o. but not actually approachable
p. that's virtually illiterate
q. but not fully illiterate

A note on distinguishing the forms:

if you want to distinguish precisely between an amplifier and an emphasiser, there is a simple test.

Amplifiers can appear in sentences such as:

She didn't altogether enjoy the party but she enjoyed it a bit

Emphasisers in the same sort of sentence produce nonsense:

*She really didn't enjoy the party but she enjoyed it a bit
Collocational issues

All modification is, to some extent, constrained by semantic considerations so we do not

encounter, for example:

*It was vastly cold

because the sense of intensifiers such as enormously, hugely, massively and vastly is not applicable
to weather conditions.

There are, as you are probably aware, few rules that apply to picking the correct collocation in any
language but learners can be led to noticing appropriate uses by raising awareness of some of the
following:

 readily
 collocates with explicable, available, accessible and a few other adjectives. It is much more
widely used to modify participle adjectives and passive participles such as understood,
explained, accommodated, admitted and so on. Its near synonym, easily, has similar
characteristics.
 openly
 is even more restricted and collocates with hostile, aggressive, dishonest, corrupt and little
else although it, too, is frequently used with past participles such as displayed, rejected,
shown etc.
 bitterly
 and other negative intensifiers such as desperately, terribly and so on will only collocate
with adjectives which are themselves negative such as disappointed, unhappy, upset etc.
 hugely
 and others which refer to size (vastly etc.) are frequently used metaphorically and
collocate with adjectives such as important, successful, profitable, popular, productive etc.
 highly
 collocates most naturally with positive adjectives, increasing their strength and is seen
with intelligent, likely, unlikely, appreciated, suggestive, experienced, qualified, artistic,
imaginative, skilled and similar descriptions.
 particularly
 and its synonyms such as exceptionally, remarkably, outstandingly collocates with both
positive and negative descriptors such as nasty, nice, delicious, unpleasant, relaxing,
stressful etc.
 Other intensifiers, especially very are a lot less discerning and can be found with a range of
adjectives.
 The amplifier incredibly has, by overuse, become virtually meaningless or, at least, with a
meaning approximating to very.