Adverb of Degree
Adverbs of degree inform us about the degree or extent or intensity or strength of an action, an adjective or another adverb. Adverbs of degree regularly function as intensifiers which give a greater or lesser emphasis to the words they modify.
Adverbs of degree among others are:
Adequately, absolutely, almost, a lot, awfully, badly, barely, completely, considerably, decidedly, deeply, eminently, emphatically, enough, enormously, entirely, exaggeratedly, exceedingly, excessively, extraordinarily, extremely, fairly, far, fully, greatly, hardly, heartily, highly, how, hugely, immensely, incredibly, indeed, intensely, just, largely, literally, little, mildly, moderately, most, much, nearly, partially, perfectly, positively, practically, pretty, profoundly, purely, quite, rather, really, remarkably, scarcely, simply, so, somewhat, strongly, terribly, thoroughly, too, totally, tremendously, truly, utterly, vastly, very, virtually, well.
The scale of strength from the weakest degree to the strongest is:
1. little
2. rather=fairly
3. quite
4. very
Placement
Adverbs of degree are commonly placed:
1. Before the adjective or the adverb they are modifying:
Examples:
a. Your job is completely good. (before adjective)
b. This test is really hard. (before adjective)
c. She is singing very loudly. (before adverb)
d. They speak too fast. (before adverb)
2. Before the main verb:
Examples:
a. We don’t absolutely understand what he means.
b. She will totally focus on her study this semester.
Enough, Too and Very
1. Enough
As an adverb enough means to the required degree or extent and is used after an adjective or adverb.
Examples:
a. His English is good enough. (after adjective)
b. The judge judged the case fairly enough.(after adverb)
2. Too
As an adverb, too means to a higher degree than is desirable, permissible, or possible; excessively and comes before an adjective or an adverb.
Examples:
a. The weather here is too cold for me.
b. Don’t drive too fast!
Remember that we can put to+infinitive after enough and too when those words function as adverbs.
Examples:
a. She is competent enough to join that competition.
b. This matter is too hard to understand.
3. Very
As an adverb, very is used for emphasis to make an adjective or the other adverb it modifies stronger. Very normally goes before an adverb or an adjective.
Examples:
a. She is very diligent. (before adjective)
b. A snail moves very slowly. (before adverb)
The Difference between Very and Too
Very states a fact. We use very in affirmative way. Whereas too is always used in negative way or it shows a problem.
Examples:
a. This orange is very sweet.
b. This orange is too sweet (for me to eat).
In sentence a, the speaker tells a fact that the orange is very sweet, he gives a compliment. There is no problem for him to eat it because the degree of sweetness is just right for him. Meanwhile in sentence b, it shows a problem if the speaker consumes the orange because the sweetness is excessive for him.
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