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! |
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Level: advanced quite When we use quite with a normal adjective, it makes the adjective less strong:
But when we use quite with a strong adjective, it means the same as absolutely:
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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
- Mitigators 2
Comments
What is actually meaning rather bigger? Can you explain me that on the easier way? Isn't that intesifier?
Hello Stefan xy,
'Rather' means something similar to 'a little' or 'quite'. It is a mitigator (weakening the adjective) rather than an intensifier (strengthening it).
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi there,
I have some questions related to noun modifiers.
"There is a sixteen foot wall between us." I believe this is correct but why singular noun is used in such noun modifiers. is it correct to use "feet" in this scenario?
Similar examples, five kilometer journey, ten story building, these also using singular nouns. Please explain.
Regards
Hi SajadKhan,
That's very observant of you and you are right: when we use a number and a unit of measurement before a noun in this way, the unit is used in the singular, just as in all of your examples. If we speak about a distance or the height of something, then this rule does not apply (e.g. 'It's 10 kilometres from Clare to here' or 'Mt Everest is 8048 metres high') -- it is only when the number and unit precede the noun. It's as if they were an adjective describing the type of noun it is.
As far as I know, there is no reason for this other than it being the way people have come to speak English over many years.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi,
Is it same to use 'quite' in place of 'slightly', 'rather' or 'a little bit' when using with a comparative. e.g
It takes two hours on the train but it is quite longer by road.
This is a quite more expensive model than that.
Are these correct?
Regards
Hello SajadKhan,
We don't use 'quite' with a comparative in this way; instead, you could say something like 'it is a little longer by road' or 'a bit longer'.
You can say 'quite a bit longer', but this means that it's more than just a little longer -- it's considerably longer. Or for your second example, you could say something like 'This model is quite a bit more expensive than that one', though again that means the price difference is large.
if it's only slightly more expensive, you'd best say 'This model is a bit more expensive' instead.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Could you please help me with how to use "extremely + adjective"?
Is it used with strong adjectives or ordinary ones ? for example: "extremely exhausted"
Thank you.
Hi Ahmed Imam,
'extremely' is not normally used with strong adjectives, so 'extremely exhausted', for example, is not correct. You can use it with gradable adjectives but not non-gradable adjectives – follow the link to see a more complete explanation.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
'She's a bit younger than I am'. Can we also say 'She's a bit younger than me'?
Hello Wang Zijian,
Yes, you can, and they mean the same thing. The second one is more common in informal contexts, but that's not to say that the first one is formal.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
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