{"id":32325,"date":"2026-04-21T13:21:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T11:21:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/?p=32325"},"modified":"2026-04-21T13:22:47","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T11:22:47","slug":"adjective-as-intensifier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/2026\/04\/adjective-as-intensifier\/","title":{"rendered":"Adjective as Intensifier"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong><em>B2 &#8211; Upper Intermediate<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Intensifier<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>An <strong>intensifier<\/strong> makes another word stronger. We usually think of adverbs (like <em>very<\/em> or <em>extremely<\/em>), but adjectives can also act as intensifiers in advanced English. They often appear before nouns or in fixed expressions to add emphasis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Adjectives used for emphasis before nouns<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Some adjectives do not add new meaning. They mainly increase intensity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Common examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>complete &#8220;<\/strong>It was a\u00a0<strong>complete disaster<\/strong>.&#8221;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>total &#8220;<\/strong>We had a\u00a0<strong>total failure<\/strong>.&#8221;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>absolute <\/strong>&#8220;He is an\u00a0absolute\u00a0beginner when it comes to using computers.&#8221;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>utter &#8220;<\/strong>He felt\u00a0<strong>utter shock<\/strong>.<strong>&#8220;<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>pure &#8220;<\/strong>That is\u00a0<strong>pure nonsense<\/strong>.&#8221;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>sheer &#8220;<\/strong>It was\u00a0<strong>sheer luck<\/strong>.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>These adjectives emphasize the noun rather than describe it in detail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Fixed expressions (strong collocations)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Some intensifying adjectives are only used with certain nouns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>heavy<\/strong> rain (not <em>strong rain<\/em>)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>deep<\/strong> sleep<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>strong<\/strong> opinion<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>great<\/strong> importance<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>These combinations sound natural because they are standard usage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Adjectives as intensifiers in informal English<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In spoken or informal English, adjectives can act like adverbs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>That movie was <strong>crazy good<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>I am <strong>dead tired<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>This is <strong>real easy<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>That was <strong>insanely fast<\/strong>. <em>(mixed with adverb form)<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>This use is common but should be used carefully in formal contexts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Gradable vs non-gradable adjectives<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Some adjectives are already strong (non-gradable), so we use intensifying adjectives instead of <em>very<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>absolutely amazing (not <em>very amazing<\/em>)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>completely exhausted<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>totally impossible<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>These often pair with strong intensifiers like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>absolutely<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>completely<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>totally<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Subtle meaning differences<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Compare:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>a <strong>big mistake<\/strong> \u2192 normal description<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>a <strong>terrible mistake<\/strong> \u2192 emotional meaning<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>a <strong>complete mistake<\/strong> \u2192 emphasizes totality<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Intensifying adjectives often add emotion or emphasis, not just size or quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Common errors<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>incorrect: very complete disaster<br>correct: <strong>a complete disaster<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>incorrect: totally very tired<br>correct: <strong>completely exhausted \/ very tired<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>incorrect: strong rain<br>correct: <strong>heavy rain<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>B2 &#8211; Upper Intermediate Intensifier An intensifier makes another word stronger. We usually think of adverbs (like very or extremely), but adjectives can also act as intensifiers in advanced English. They often appear before nouns or in fixed expressions to add emphasis. Adjectives used for emphasis before nouns Some adjectives do not add new meaning. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[309],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32325","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-grammar"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v16.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Adjective as Intensifier | phone english blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/2026\/04\/adjective-as-intensifier\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Adjective as Intensifier | phone english blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"B2 &#8211; Upper Intermediate Intensifier An intensifier makes another word stronger. We usually think of adverbs (like very or extremely), but adjectives can also act as intensifiers in advanced English. They often appear before nouns or in fixed expressions to add emphasis. Adjectives used for emphasis before nouns Some adjectives do not add new meaning. 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