English Refresher

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A2 · Elementary

Intensifiers: How Strong Is It?

“Cold” tells someone the temperature. A bit cold, quite cold, very cold and too cold tell them what to do about it. These small words go in front of an adjective and set its strength — and one of them is a warning, not a compliment.

Level: A2 a bit · quite · very · too Play · Practice · Score
The Grammar Transformer

Press a button. Turn up the volume.

Same sentence, same adjective. Move along the row from left to right and the feeling gets stronger — until the last button, which stops being about strength altogether.

I’m a bit tired.
Structure: a bit + adjective
A bit is the softest one. It makes the adjective smaller, not bigger: a bit tired means only slightly tired.

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The rules — with examples

An intensifier is a small word you put in front of an adjective to say how strong it is. Most of them only change the volume. One of them changes the meaning.

Three jobs these words do

Make it weaker
a bit · a little · slightly
The room is a bit cold.
I’m a little nervous.
Make it stronger
quite · pretty · very · really · so
The test was very difficult.
She was so happy!
Signal a problem
too
The coffee is too hot.
— so I cannot drink it.

The one that trips everyone: too is not a stronger version of very. “The coffee is very hot” is a description — it might be exactly how you like it. “The coffee is too hot” is a complaint: it is hotter than you want, and you cannot drink it.

The strength ladder

Read from the top down. Every line uses the same adjective, so the only thing changing is how strong it sounds.

a bitweak
The movie was a bit long. — a small complaint, nothing more.
quite / prettymedium
The movie was quite long. — longer than average, but fine.
verystrong
The movie was very long. — the normal strong word, in speech and writing.
really / sostrong, spoken
The movie was really long! — the same strength as very, but it sounds like a conversation.
tooa problem
The movie was too long. — long enough to be a problem: you were bored, or you left.

Note on pretty: in front of an adjective it means quite — “the food was pretty good”. It is common in American speech, but keep it out of formal writing, and do not confuse it with the adjective pretty meaning attractive.

The four rules

1
The word goes BEFORE the adjective
She is very tired. — not “she is tired very”.
Cue: intensifier + adjective, always in that order
2
Too means a problem, very does not
This bag is very heavy, but I can carry it. This bag is too heavy — I cannot carry it.
Cue: can you still do it? then very, not too
3
A bit only goes with negative ideas
I’m a bit tired. / I’m a bit cold. — but not “a bit happy”.
Cue: for a small amount of something good, use quite
4
Enough is the odd one — it goes AFTER
The room is warm enough. — not “enough warm”.
Cue: every other word here goes in front; enough follows

Three patterns worth learning whole

too + tothe problem and the resulttoo tired to cook
so + thatthe cause and the resultso tired that I slept
enough + tothe right amountold enough to drive

Watch the pair: “I am too young to drive” and “I am not old enough to drive” mean the same thing. Learners often reach for “too much young” — but too much goes with a noun (too much noise), never with an adjective. In front of an adjective it is just too.

Very, or absolutely?

Adjectives that are already extreme
freezingboilingexhaustedstarvingdelicioushugetinyterribleperfectamazing
These words already mean “very”. Freezing is very cold, exhausted is very tired, huge is very big. So you cannot make them bigger with very: say absolutely freezing or really freezing, not “very freezing”. The safe pair is very + ordinary adjective (very cold, very tired) and absolutely + extreme adjective (absolutely freezing, absolutely exhausted).

Quick guide: small amount → a bit. Medium → quite. Strong → very in writing, really or so in speech. A problem → too. Already extreme → absolutely. And enough is the only one that comes after the adjective.

Practice & score yourself

Ten questions — five multiple choice, five gap-fill. Instant scoring and a short explanation for every answer.

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The one rule to remember

Ask one question: is this a description, or a problem? For a description, pick your strength — a bit, quite, very, really, so. For a problem, there is only one word: too. “Very hot” is how the coffee is. “Too hot” is why you are not drinking it.

Two things to keep with it: the word always goes before the adjective — except enough, which goes after (warm enough) — and an adjective that is already extreme takes absolutely, not very. So it is absolutely freezing, never “very freezing”.

Want the same idea with nouns instead of adjectives? Try Quantifiers →

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