2020-01-28 Grammar: too/very, intensifiers

Greg Malivuk
gmalivuk@staffordhouse.com
http://www.pastebin.com/u/gmalivuk - Notes from all classes
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Homework: “too and very” handout from EnglishForEveryone.org
1 too
2 very
3 too
4 very
5 too
6 too
7 very
8 very
9 too
10 too (“He’ll be able to drive when he’s older” means he can’t drive now.)
11 very
12 too
13 too
14 too
15 very
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Usually, if there’s an infinitive phrase in the sentence (which tells us about the consequence of the degree), we should use “too”, but not always:

He is too young to get married. = He can’t get married.
He is very young to get married. = He can (legally) get married, but I think he’s still very young.

This is also true with “for”-phrases:
He’s too big for kindergarten. = He can’t be in kindergarten.
He’s very big for kindergarten. = He may be in kindergarten, but he is unusually big for children that age.
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Intensifiers and Mitigators - part B - choose the best intensifier to complete each sentence
1 very
2 extremely
	(“an” can only go before a vowel sound, and “good” isn’t something that can be 100%)
3 too
	(We don’t use “much” in affirmative sentences without an intensifier like “too” or “so”.)
4 completely
5 really
	(To modify verbs, we generally only use “really”, “kind of”, “rather”, and “a little”.)
6 rather
7 so
	(Mitigators like “a little”, “slightly”, and “kind of” are uncommon with positive adjectives.)
8 pretty
9 kind of
10 quite
11 completely
12 slightly
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exercise D - Compare your opinions about each of these things with your partner. Use intensifiers and mitigators in your conversation.
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Homework: part C - Rearrange the words in the sentences.