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Voice of America
14-03-2025
- General
- Voice of America
Common Adverbs in Conversation: Amplifiers, Downtoners
From VOA Learning English, this is Everyday Grammar. Imagine you are at a business meeting. You have just presented a plan to your business partners. They want to give suggestions for how to make your plan better. The conversation might sound like this: A: I really like your plan! B: Yes, it's pretty good … but it needs a little revising. A: Of course , you did a very good job. But you might need to consider a few more points. B: Yes, it will probably be more effective if you highlight the staffing requirements and expand on the budget. Whether you like business or not, this conversation gives you important grammar information that you can use in just about any situation. In particular, the exchange offers examples of some of the most important adverbs that you will hear in everyday speech. This week, we will explore special adverbs that increase or decrease the force of a statement. These adverbs are sometimes called amplifiers or downtoners.* What are adverbs? What are amplifiers? Adverbs are words that modify, or change, the meaning of adjectives, verbs, and sometimes entire sentences. They are often used to show time, a way of doing something, place, or degree – a measure of something. Some kinds of adverbs act as amplifiers. The word amplify means to make something stronger. So these amplifiers make the meaning of an adjective or sentence stronger. In American English, amplifiers have three common uses: increasing intensity, expressing certainty and showing precision. This information comes from Susan Conrad and Douglas Biber, two experts on English grammar. Words such as really and very are among the most common that increase the intensity of a statement. They usually modify an adjective. Take the adjective good, for example. Imagine you are trying some food that your friends cooked. Perhaps you want to tell them, "This food is good." You could increase the intensity of your statement by using the word very: "This food is very good." You could express certainty by using an amplifier such as definitely: "This is definitely the best food I've ever had." Or you could use an amplifier to show precision: "At exactly 5:13 p.m. on February 6th, I ate the best food I've ever had in my life!" What are downtoners? Other kinds of adverbs act as downtoners. Downtoners are the opposite of amplifiers. They reduce the force of a statement or express doubt. In other words, they set the tone of a statement. You can remember the term 'downtoner' by thinking about what it does: toning down a statement. Downtoners have three common functions: reducing intensity, expressing doubt or showing imprecision. Three common downtoners in conversational English are pretty, maybe and probably, say Conrad and Biber. How can you use downtoners to change the meaning of the statement? Take our earlier example: "This food is good." If you wanted to reduce the intensity of your statement, you could say: "This food is pretty good." You could show doubt, even raise questions, by saying: "This is maybe the best food I've ever had." Or, "This is probably the best food I've ever had." These statements express someone's opinion about the food. But they are not as strong as the example sentences that use amplifiers. In other words, saying "This food is pretty good" is not as forceful as saying, "This food is really good." Amplifiers and downtoners in a conversation So what does this discussion of food have to do with the exchange we heard at the beginning of this report? Let's think back to the business conversation: A: I really like your plan! B: Yes, it's pretty good … but it needs a little revising. A: Of course , you did a very good job, but you might need to consider a few more points. B: Yes, it will probably be more effective if you highlight the staffing requirements and expand on the budget. You might notice that one of the speakers uses amplifiers such as really and very. She is using these words to give more force to her statement. She is probably more excited about the business plan. The second speaker uses downtoners – the words pretty and probably, for example. So you might suspect that he is more guarded about the plan. Maybe he has doubts that the new plan will be better. The amplifiers and downtoners they use are also among the most common ones that you will hear in American English. These words are useful in a number of settings. They are polite and acceptable in almost any situation. Amplifiers and downtoners in writing Remember this: the amplifiers and downtoners we have discussed today are common in conversation. Different amplifiers and downtoners are more common in writing. For example, you are more likely to read words such as indeed, certainly, or approximately than you are to hear them in everyday conversation. If you use these amplifiers and downtoners in conversation, your speech will take on a very official sound. While that might be a good idea in a formal presentation or speech, it might not be the best choice for an everyday conversation. Amplifiers and downtoners are not always necessary to use in a sentence. But when you see or hear them, you are getting information about the thoughts and feelings of another person. You are learning about how strongly they feel about something. And that's the end of this really long report! I'm Jill Robbins. And I'm John Russell. *These are also often called qualifiers. John Russell wrote this story for Learning English. George Grow was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section. ____________________________________________________ Words in This Story revise – v. to make changes especially to correct or improve (something) staff – n. the people who make a business or organization do what it does amplifier – n. (grammar) an adverb that increases the force of a statement downtoner – n. (grammar) an adverb that decreases the force of a statement function – n. the special purpose or activity for which a thing exists or is used conversation – n. an informal talk involving two people or a small group of people highlight – v. to direct attention to (someone or something) grammar – n. the set of rules that explain how words are used in a language particular – n. special or unusual adverb – n. a word that describes a verb, an adjective, another adverb, or a sentence and that is often used to show time, manner, place, or degree certainty – n. something that is certain : a fact about which there is no doubt precision – n. exactness or accuracy imprecision – n. the opposite of precision doubt – n. a feeling of being uncertain or unsure about something tone – n. a quality, feeling, or attitude expressed by the words that someone uses in speaking or writing polite – adj. having or showing good manners or respect for other people
Voice of America
07-03-2025
- General
- Voice of America
Adverb and Adjective Choices in Conversation
From VOA Learning English, this is Everyday Grammar. Imagine two American students are talking outside of their school. Let's listen to the imaginary conversation: A: Today is going slow . B: Yeah. I guess we should study for our grammar test. A: That sounds like a terrible idea. B: Yeah, but if we don't study, we won't do good on the test. A: Fine. Let's go study our notes quick . Then we can play video games. These bad students may hate grammar, but they just taught you some common grammatical structures in conversational American English. In today's report, we will study how conversational grammar differs from written and formal grammatical structures. We will show you how some Americans use adjectives and adverbs in casual conversation. Adjectives and Adverbs Adjectives are words that give information about nouns. They generally appear before nouns, although they also appear after linking verbs. Here are two examples: You are a good student. Learning English is fun. In the two example sentences, the words "good" and "fun" are adjectives. They are telling you something about a noun. Adverbs are often used to modify adjectives or verbs. They give information about reason, manner, time, and so on. For example, the adverb loudly appears in this sentence: We sang loudly. The adverb loudly modifies the past tense verb, sang. It tells about the way in which the subject, we, sang. Adverbs often have an –ly ending, but there are many that do not. You can read more about adverbs in past Everyday Grammar stories. Conversation: Let's think back to the conversation we heard at the beginning of the story: A: Today is going slow . B: Yeah. I guess we should study for our grammar test. A: That sounds like a terrible idea. B: Yeah, but if we don't study, we won't do good on the test. A: Fine. Let's go study our notes quick . Then we can play videogames. Notice that the words are used differently from what might be taught in an English class. In casual conversation, Americans often use adjective forms in place of adverbs. They may use adjective forms to modify verbs. For example, the students use good – a word that is normally an adjective - as an adverb. One student says "we won't do good on the test." In writing and in formal conversation, Americans generally do not use the word "good" this way. Instead, they use the word well. In formal writing or speaking, you would be more likely to see or hear the sentence "we won't do well on the test." Americans also may use an adverb but choose not to say an –ly ending. For example, the student says "today is going slow," instead of "today is going slowly." You would be more likely to read "slowly" in academic writing, write Susan Conrad and Douglas Biber, two English grammar experts. Not necessarily slang, not necessarily impolite These grammatical structures are not necessarily slang. They are not necessarily impolite, either. You might hear some of these structures in a restaurant, at a job fair, or even at work. For example, a boss might tell an employee "We need to do this quick," about a project that must be completed quickly. This is the same pattern that the students used in their conversation. Conrad and Biber say that in formal speech and writing, adjective forms are almost never used to modify verbs. In addition, adverbs with –ly endings are more common in writing – particularly in academic and news writing.* What can you do? The good news is this: we are not asking you to memorize any of the patterns we have talked about today. What we hope to do is show you that the grammatical patterns in conversation do not always match the patterns used in formal writing or speech. There is more flexibility in casual speech. Understanding this idea will help you understand Americans when they speak, and it will help you sound more natural when you speak to Americans. You might also be pleased to know that Americans will not judge you severely if you use an adjective in place of an adverb. In fact, they probably would do the same! I'm Jill Robbins. And I'm John Russell. John Russell wrote this story for Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section. *Please see Conrad and Biber "Real Grammar: A Corpus-Based Approach to English" pgs. 73-75 ** If you would like to read more about adverbs, you might want to try these two resources: ____________________________________________________ Words in This Story conversation – n. an informal talk involving two people or a small group of people formal – adj. suitable for serious or official speech and writing casual – adj. not formal modify – v. grammar: to limit or describe the meaning of (a word or group of words) manner – n. the way that something is done or happens academic – adj. of or relating to schools and education slang – n. words that are not considered part of the standard vocabulary of a language and that are used very informally in speech especially by a particular group of people impolite – adj. not polite pattern – n. the regular and repeated way in which something happens or is done memorize – v. to learn (something) so well that you are able to remember it perfectly flexibility – n. able to change or to do different things
