Unit 6: Intensifying Adverbs

In English there are lots of other ways of saying very or very much. For example, we can use words such as highly, utterly, bitterly, deeply. These alternatives collocate strongly with specific words, and other combinations often sound unnatural.

A. Highly

Collocations	Comments
(un)likely, unusual, successful, competitive, profitable, effective, controversial, recommended	Highly is used with some probability words (likely, unusual). With the exception of highly controversial it usually combines with very positive words. Extremely can also be used with all the opposite adjectives except recommended.

• It is highly unlikely that I'll finish my work on time.
• Jill's highly unusual behaviour began to worry her parents.

B. Absolutely, utterly

Collocations	Comments
ridiculous, stupid, impossible, wrong, alone, appalled, convinced, devastated, miserable	Absolutely and (slightly more formal) utterly combine with adjectives with very extreme meanings where we can't use very. For example, we say absolutely/utterly exhausted, not very exhausted, whereas we say very tired, but not absolutely or utterly tired. Often, but not always, these words have negative connotations.

• It was an absolutely stupid comment to make.
• The whole area was utterly devastated after the earthquake.

C. Bitterly, deeply, ridiculously, strongly

Word	Collocations	Comments
bitterly	disappointing/disappointed, resent, bitterly regret, complain, cry, weep	Carries a feeling of deep sadness; used slightly more in writing than in conversation.
deeply	ashamed, concerned, shocked, committed, moved, affected, hurt (of feelings), regret, care, religious, unhappy	Collocates mainly with words associated with feelings; used slightly more in writing than in conversation.
ridiculously	cheap, expensive, easy, low, high, long, short, small, large, early, late	Suggests something extreme, which seems unbelievable or unreasonable.
strongly	oppose, influence, believe, deny, recommend, support, condemn, suggest, feel, argue, object	Collocates with verbs, particularly verbs that relate to having an opinion.

PRACTICE EXERCISES

6.1 Choose an adverb from the box to replace very in each of these expressions[cite: 2].

utterly strongly bitterly ridiculously highly deeply

1. very ashamed[cite: 2]

2. very cheap[cite: 2]

3. very controversial[cite: 2]

4. very stupid[cite: 2]

5. very successful[cite: 2]

6. very disappointing[cite: 2]

7. very opposed[cite: 2]

8. very ridiculous[cite: 2]

9. very easy[cite: 2]

10. very concerned[cite: 2]

6.2 Use a collocation from exercise 6.1 to complete each of these sentences[cite: 2].

1. The flight from London to Rome was ____________ . It only cost 20 euros[cite: 2].

2. Some people love her new book, others are very angry about it. It is ____________[cite: 2].

3. His father was a pacifist all his life and was ____________ to war[cite: 2].

4. The exam results were ____________ for the whole class. We had all expected to do much better[cite: 2].

5. When I realised how much my selfish behaviour had upset everyone, I was ____________[cite: 2].

6. In the 1990s she ran a(n) ____________ company which made outstanding profits[cite: 2].

7. Everyone got more than 95% correct in the test; it was ____________[cite: 2].

8. You must apologise immediately. It was a(n) ____________ remark to make[cite: 2].

9. She has always been ____________ about the environment and would like to work for a conservation agency[cite: 2].

10. That you should even think that I would steal money from you is ____________ ! You must be crazy![cite: 2]

6.3 In each of these sets of phrases, one is NOT a correct collocation. Cross out the incorrect one[cite: 2].

Which of the following phrases is INCORRECT?[cite: 2]

6.4 Correct the wrong collocations using adverbs from the box. Use each adverb once only[cite: 1].

Trong đoạn văn ngắn dưới đây, tác giả đã lạm dụng từ strongly sai vị trí kết hợp từ[cite: 1]. Điền từ thay thế đúng theo thứ tự xuất hiện của các lỗi:

bitterly strictly deeply utterly

Everyone was complaining strongly when they heard about the new plan[cite: 1]. People were strongly shocked (1) to hear that children would be strongly forbidden (2) to use the sports ground and most people were strongly opposed (3) to the new rules[cite: 1]. Even people who normally never expressed an opinion were strongly appalled (4) by the proposals[cite: 1].

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