Real Grammar - Susan Conrad, Douglas Biber 2009

Amplifiers and Downtoners
Unit 26 That’s pretty weird

What have you learned from your grammar textbook?

Adverbs express many meanings (e.g., carefully, now, here). Adverbs can modify an adjective (very big) or a verb (She ran quickly). Sentence adverbs express an opinion about the entire sentence:

• Fortunately, the car did not run out of gas.

What does the corpus show?

A

Amplifiers and downtoners are special adverbs that increase or reduce the force of a statement. Each type has three main functions:

B

Amplifiers and downtoners are more common in conversation than in writing. But different amplifiers and downtoners are common in conversation and in academic writing:

C

In academic writing, a special kind of downtoner shows that the information is a generalization, but that it is not always true or is somehow not absolutely true:

• In the hilly parts of China the fertility of the soil is generally lower than on the plains.

• The subjects relied mainly on automatic detection.

• The professional player is often held to be socially inferior.

• These species are typically plants of the jungle formations.

Activities

1 Notice in context: Read the conversation and the paragraph from an academic text. Circle all amplifier and downtoner adverbs.

1. Conversation: About a music group.

Marissa: So, it’s the three of you playing again tonight?

Jacob: Actually, there’s four of us. We have a bass player tonight, too. marissa: I was really impressed by Matt’s guitar playing at the last concert.

Jacob: Yeah, he’s a real virtuoso. He’s very talented.

2. Academic writing: About students working for social change.

Early writers typically did not take students’ efforts toward major social change in the twentieth century very seriously. Social scientists often found it easier to base their opinions about the motivations of their efforts on psychological explanations. They focused on the “alienation of youth,” on the conflict between generations, and on the personal frustrations of young people. For the most part, students’ protests and complaints were considered to be part of a new generation struggling for recognition, and therefore in need of striking out against their elders who were not giving them recognition.

2 Analyze and edit: Read this excerpt from a writing exam question about the importance of art in society. Decide if each boldfaced adverb is used appropriately for academic writing. If an adverb is used inappropriately, cross it out and write an appropriate substitute above it. If it is correct, write C.

3 Practice conversation: With a partner, complete this script of a short commercial for a car. use at least five more amplifiers and downtoners to point out important, interesting, and surprising information. When you are finished, practice the commercial with other classmates.

Scene: A teenage girl and boy are listening to music in the boy’s new car. They are on a date. The girl’s mother is sitting in the middle of the backseat of the car, because she did not want her daughter to be alone on a date.

Boy: [To the girl, looking nervous] I had a really good time tonight.

Girl: Yeah, I did, too. I just kind of wish we had more privacy. [Girl looks back at her mom]

Mom: [With her arms folded, looking upset] Actually, I think you’ve probably had too much privacy tonight. This car isn’t as small as it looks from the outside.

Boy: [Suddenly looking excited, talking about his car]

Girl: ...

Mom: ...

4 Practice writing: Reread the paragraph in Activity 1. Think of some social changes (women's equality, racial equality, democracy, etc.). What are motivations for young people to participate in social movements? Write a paragraph that responds to that question with examples to support your ideas. Use at least three amplifiers and downtowners (from Section C), and circle the adverbs as you write them. Compare your paragraph with a partner's.

Young people in the United States have been an important force behind many major social changes. I do not agree that their motivations are mainly based on a need to be recognized by their elders. I believe that many factors motivate them. For example, ...