Really, very, so, quite: making words stronger
Intensifiers change how strong an adjective or verb is. Very, really and so make the word stronger: The game was very easy. The soup was so hot. I really like marbles. Quite makes the word weaker: The game was quite easy, but not too easy. Not ... at all means ‘none’: I didn’t like the noise at all. We put very, so and quite before an adjective. We put really before an adjective or before a verb: It is really big. I really love hopscotch. Another use of the past simple is to say what we were good at: I was good at hide and seek. I wasn’t good at skipping.
| Not at all | Quite | Very / really / so |
|---|---|---|
| The noise was not loud at all. | The noise was quite loud. | The noise was very loud. |
| I didn’t like the soup at all. | I liked the soup quite a lot. | I really liked the soup. |
| It wasn’t hot at all. | It was quite hot. | It was so hot! |
I was very good at hide and seek when I was younger.
Really? I was quite good, but I was so bad at skipping.
I didn’t like hopscotch at all, but I really enjoyed skipping.
Let’s play hide and seek now! Close your eyes and count to twenty.
The park was really big. The game was very easy. The ball was so heavy. The sweets were quite sweet. I didn’t like the noise at all.
Make it stronger. The grown-up says plain sentences: It is hot. The game is easy. The child makes the sentence stronger (very hot) and weaker (quite hot) and says the opposite with not ... at all. Then the child writes four sentences about games using four different intensifiers.