Intensifiers

If you did the lesson on verb groups, you might remember that verbs can have tense helpers. Adjectives have their own little helpers, too.

Intensifiers are words (usually adverbs) that tell us how strong or intense an adjective is.

For instance, a dude might be cool, but how cool?

Second of all, he’s actually a really cool dude.

Wonder(2012)

Really is an intensifier. He’s not just a cool dude, he’s a really cool dude.

Let's change only the intensifier in this snippet.

Second of all, he’s actually an incredibly cool dude.

Second of all, he’s actually a kind-of cool dude.

Notice that this snippet uses a describercool, not a classifier. This isn't a coincidence. What happens if we replace cool with a classifier, like Swiss?

He's actually a really Swiss dude.

It sounds a bit strange because officially you can't be more or less Swiss; you either are or aren't.

Having said that, in reality we do sometimes say things like "He is so Swiss" or "This town is very Texas."

When you use a classifier in this way (i.e. with an intensifier) it usually sounds more emphatic, or even comical, because it's not typical usage.

Write your own variation using an intensifier.