The Communicative Grammar of English Workbook - Edward Woods, Rudy Coppieters 2002

7.17. Degree
Unit seven. Adverbs, adverbials and prepositions

Section 215; 459

Expressions of degree can have a heightening or a lowering effect on some part of the sentence. They are usually adverbs acting as modifiers of adjectives, adverbs, etc. or adverbials typically occurring in mid-position: I’m very hungry. / We entirely agree with you.

Task *

Identify the degree expressions in the following sentences, specifying

(a) whether they have a heightening (H) or a lowering (L) effect

(b) whether they function as modifiers (M) or as adverbials (A).

1. The two pictures looked particularly valuable to me.

2. The word cathedral simply means ’a chair’.

3. Just getting the facts straight is monumentally difficult.

4. There were quite a number of things we didn’t know.

5. I had pretty much given up on watching TV.

6. It’s almost impossible to get through to New York.

7. Russians care deeply about whether their country is consulted.

8. The government can ill afford to give in to these demands.

9. Observers claimed that the brutal regime had totally collapsed.

10. It’s all but certain that the two presidents will reach a deal.

11. Perhaps I should try to be a little more like a stern nanny.

12. We’re all terribly grateful to dear Wilfred.

13. It really bothers me that I can’t leave right now.

14. Swallowing is piercingly painful, and only partly relieved by a swig from my water bottle.

(Michael Palin, Pole to Pole, p. 125)

15. I let myself into a neat but rather gloomy cabin, barely half the size of Officer B’s - the fully furnished life of someone small, slender and dainty in their movements.

(Jonathan Raban, Hunting Mister Heartbreak, p. 56)