MODIFIERS

I'm very much a family person (man) / a homebody / an introvert / a realist / a republican / pro-choice / politically correct * I'm still very much a kid inside myself
 
Intensifier is a linguistic term (but not a proper lexical category) for a modifier that makes no contribution to the propositional meaning of a clause but serves to enhance and give additional emotional context to the word it modifies. Intensifiers are grammatical expletives, specifically expletive attributives (or, equivalently, attributive expletives or attributive-only expletives; they also qualify as expressive attributives), because they function as semantically vacuous filler. Characteristically, English draws intensifiers from a class of words called degree modifiers, words that quantify the idea they modify. More specifically, they derive from a group of words called adverbs of degree, also known as degree adverbs. However, when used grammatically as intensifiers, these words cease to be degree adverbs, because they no longer quantify the idea they modify; instead, they emphasize it emotionally. By contrast, the words moderately, slightly, and barely are degree adverbs, but not intensifiers. The other hallmark of prototypical intensifiers is that they are adverbs which lack the primary characteristic of adverbs: the ability to modify verbs. Intensifiers modify exclusively adjectives and adverbs. However, this rule is insufficient to classify intensifiers, since there exist other words commonly classified as adverbs that never modify verbs but are not intensifiers, e.g. questionably.

Technically, intensifiers roughly qualify a point on the affective semantic property, which is gradable. Syntactically, intensifiers pre-modify either adjectives or adverbs. Semantically, they increase the emotional content of an expression. The basic intensifier is very. A versatile word, English permits very to modify adjectives and adverb, but not verbs. Other intensifiers often express the same intention as very.
Pretty, fairly, really, very, and quite                               

Question

What is the difference between pretty, fairly, really, very, and quite? How are these words used? –

Answer

Pretty, fairly, really, very, and quite are placed directly in front of adjectives or adverbs to add to their meaning. Often they make the meaning of the adverb or adjective stronger, or more intense. For this reason, these words are called intensifiers. 

However, some intensifiers weaken the meaning of the adjective or adverb that they modify. In the descriptions below, the intensifiers mentioned above are presented in order of their strength, from strongest to weakest. 

Really, very, and extremely

Really and very are strong. When one of these words is placed in front of an adjective or adverb, it makes the meaning of that adjective or adverb more intense, more powerful, as in the examples shown. The meaning of really and very is similar to the meaning of another intensifier: extremely.  

• She did very well on the test. (=she didn't simply do well, she did extremely well)
• The water is really cold. (=the water isn't just cold, it's extremely cold)

Quite 
When quite is placed in front of an adjective or adverb, it adds strength, but not as much strength as really or very. One way to think of quite is that it tells you that the degree of intensity is noticeable and more than expected.

• The entertainment was quite good. (=the entertainment was noticeably good, perhaps better than expected)  
• Blue jays are quite common in this area. (=blue jays are noticeably common, more common than you might expect.)

Fairly, pretty, and somewhat
Fairly and pretty weaken the adverbs or adjectives that they modify. They tell you that the quality described by the adverb or adjective is present, but only to a limited extent, as shown in the examples below. The meaning of fairly and pretty is similar to the meaning of another intensifier: somewhat.

• It’s a fairly common disease. (=It’s not common, but it’s not rare, either. It’s somewhat common.)
• The movie was pretty good but not great. (=The movie wasn’t good, but it wasn’t bad either. It was okay.)
• I have to leave pretty soon. (=I don’t have to leave right now, but I can’t stay for a long time.)

Caution: Although these intensifiers are common in spoken and informal English, in written English, their use is often discouraged. Many writers and writing teachers feel that using words like really, very, and pretty weakens your writing and that writers should find other ways to communicate intensity.


Not all intensifiers are the same syntactically—they vary on whether they can be used as attributively or predicatively. For example, really and super can be used as both:^[3]

a. The car is really expensive. - Predicative intensifier

b. the really expensive car - Attributive intensifier

a. Today was super cold. - Predicative intensifier

b. a super cold day - Attributive intensifier

However, words such as so can only occur as predicative intensifiers^[3] while others, such as -ass, typically are only attributive intensifiers:^[4]

a. The car is so expensive. - Predicative intensifier

b. *the so expensive car - Attributive intensifier (not grammatical)

a. *Today was cold-ass. - Predicative intensifier (not grammatical)^{[note 1]}

b. a cold-ass day - Attributive intensifier