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Mitigators

Level: intermediate

Mitigators are the opposite of intensifiers. When we want to make an adjective less strong we use these words: fairly, rather, quite

By the end of the day, we were rather tired.
The film wasn't great, but it was quite exciting.

and in informal English: pretty

We had a pretty good time at the party.

Be careful!

Level: advanced

quite

When we use quite with a normal adjective, it makes the adjective less strong:

The food was quite bad.
(= The food was bad but not very bad.)

My nephew is quite clever.
(= My nephew is clever but not very clever.)

But when we use quite with a strong adjective, it means the same as absolutely:

The food was quite awful.
(= The food was absolutely awful.)

As a child he was quite brilliant.
(= As a child he was absolutely brilliant.)

Level: intermediate

Mitigators with comparatives

We use these words and phrases as mitigators:

a bit
just a bit
a little
a little bit		 rather
slightly
just a little bit
 

She's a bit younger than I am.
It takes two hours on the train but it is a little bit longer by road.
This one is rather bigger.

We use slightly and rather as mitigators with comparative adjectives in front of a noun:

This is a slightly more expensive model than that.
This is a rather bigger one than that.

Mitigators 1

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Mitigators 2

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Comments

sayarmyo's picture sayarmyo replied on Thailand

This is absolutely brilliant. i like this grammar section
 

Akmal29's picture Akmal29 replied on Bangladesh

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Muhammad Zulhilmi Ismail's picture Muhammad Zulhil... replied on Brazil

 I was having a hard time to answer the first question but i love the exercise. thanks The LearnEnglish Team.

Zeina Okasha's picture Zeina Okasha replied on Brazil

so Very difficult

ErikaH's picture ErikaH replied on Brazil

Hello The LearnEnglish Team,
Unfortunately, I cannot see any sentences in this task. How do I fill in the words into this task?
Otherwise, tasks are very useful to improve English learning.
Can you please help me?
Thank you in advance.
Regards,
ErikaH

Kou's picture Kou replied on Japan

Hi everyone. Nice to meet you all! I really enjoy learning in here! Thanks for 'Learn English' Team!
May I say 'She's a bit younger than me.' rather than 'She's a bit younger than I am.'?
Would anyone answer me this question? Thanks!

AdamJK's picture AdamJK replied on Poland

Hi Kou,
Yes, you can say that! Both of them are good English.
Best wishes,
Adam
The LearnEnglish Team

hazha1988's picture hazha1988 replied on Brazil

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Mohammad7's picture Mohammad7 replied on Brazil

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F-R-G-'s picture F-R-G- replied on Brazil

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