Introduction

We use adverbs of degree to describe the degree (extent or amount) of an adjective, adverb or verb.

We can use "not" to form a negative with some adverbs of degree.

Examples

• To an excessive degree:
  • with an adjective:
    • "The book is too long."
    • "The book is not too long."
  • with an adverb:
    • "She spoke too loudly."
    • "She didn't speak too loudly."
  • with a verb:
    • ("too" with a verb means "as well" or "also" and is not an adverb of degree. "He played the piano too.")
  
  
• To the maximum degree:
  • with an adjective:
    • "Their styles of painting are completely different."
    • "Their styles of painting are not completely different."
  • with an adverb:
    • (We don't use "completely" with adverbs)
  • with a verb:
    • "They completely finished the meal."
    • "They did not completely finish the meal."
      or:
    • "They finished the meal completely."
    • "They didn’t finish the meal completely."
  
  
• To a very large degree:
  • with an adjective:
    • "The walk was extremely tiring."
    • (we don’t usually use "not")
  • with an adverb:
    • "She ran extremely slowly."
    • (we don’t usually use "not")
  • with a verb:
    • (We don't use "extremely" with verbs.)
  
  
• To a greater / lesser degree than all others (see also the comparatives and superlatives worksheet):
  • with an adjective:
    • "That film was the most interesting."
    • "That film was the least interesting."
    • "That film was not the most interesting."
    • "That film was not the least interesting."
  • with an adverb:
    • "They prepared the most carefully."
    • "They prepared the least carefully."
    • "They didn’t prepare the most carefully."
    • "They didn’t prepare the least carefully."
  • with a verb:
    • "I like chocolate the most."
    • "I like chocolate the least."
    • "I don’t like chocolate the most."
    • "I don’t like chocolate the least."
  
  
• To a greater / lesser degree than one or more others (see also the comparatives and superlatives worksheet) (we don’t usually use "not"):
  • with an adjective:
    • "The second exam was more difficult than the first."
    • "The second exam was less difficult than the first."
  • with an adverb:
    • "Can you speak more loudly please?"
    • "Can you speak less loudly please?"
  • with a verb:
    • "She reads more than her brother."
    • "She reads less than her brother."
  
  
• To a large degree:
  • with an adjective:
    • "The countryside is so beautiful."
    • "The countryside is very beautiful."
    • "The countryside is not very beautiful."
    • "The countryside is really beautiful."
    • "The countryside is not really beautiful."
  • with an adverb:
    • "She paints so well."
    • "She paints very well."
    • "She paints really well."
    • "She doesn't paint so well."
    • "She doesn't paint very well."
  • with a verb:
    • "She really enjoyed the film."
    • "She really didn’t enjoy the film."
    • (Less common: "She so enjoyed the film.")
    • (We don’t use "very" with verbs.)
    • (We don’t use "not" with "so".)
  
  
• To a moderate degree (we don’t usually use "not"):
  • with an adjective:
    • "Their room is quite messy."
    • "Their room is fairly messy."
  • with an adverb:
    • "She talks quite quietly."
    • "She talks fairly quietly."
  • with a verb:
    • "I quite like swimming."
    • (We don't use "fairly" with verbs).
  
  
• To a sufficient degree:
  • with an adjective:
    • "Their house is big enough."
    • "Their house is not big enough."
  • with an adverb:
    • "He works quickly enough."
    • "He doesn't work quickly enough."
  • with a verb:
    • "They cooked enough for everyone."
    • "They didn't cook enough for everyone."
  
  
• A little less than the sufficient degree (we don’t usually use "not"):
  • with an adjective:
    • "Dinner is almost ready."
    • "Dinner is nearly ready."
  • with an adverb (to compare):
    • "She finished almost as quickly."
    • "She finished nearly as quickly."
  • with a verb:
    • "He has nearly completed the project."
    • "He has almost completed the project."

Form - positive

We usually put the adverb of degree before the adjective, adverb or main verb (after auxiliary verbs), but in some cases it follows, as shown in the table:

meaning	adverb of degree	adjective	adverb	verb
an excessive degree	too	too long	too loudly	- ("I play football too" = "I play football as well")
the maximum degree	completely	completely different	-	completely finish or finish completely
a very large degree	extremely	extremely tiring	extremely slowly	-
a greater / lesser degree than all others	most / least	the most / least interesting	the most / least carefully	like (the) most
a greater / lesser degree than one or more others	more / less	more / less difficult	more / less loudly	read more / less
a large degree	very	very beautiful	very well	-
	really	really beautiful	really well	really enjoy
	so	so beautiful	so well	so enjoy
a moderate degree	quite	quite messy	quite quietly	quite like
a sufficient or expected degree	enough	hot enough	quickly enough	cook enough
a little less than the sufficient / expected degree	almost	almost ready	almost as quickly	almost complete
	nearly	nearly finished	nearly as quickly	nearly complete

Form - negative

If we use "not" with an adverb of degree, the negative meaning is for the adverb of degree and does not necessarily describe the opposite of the adjective, adverb or verb that it describes:

• "The book is not very long."
  This does not necessarily mean that the book is short; it means that the book is not long to a large degree (it might be long, quite long, or even short, depending on the context or tone that we use).

Form

With adjectives, we use "not" before the adverb of degree.

With adverbs and verbs, we use "not" in the negative form of the verb.

With verbs, we can put the adverb of degree before the main verb and after auxiliary verbs, or after the main verb (e.g. "She hasn't completely finished the meal." or "She hasn't finished the meal completely."):

meaning	adverb of degree	adjective	adverb	verb
an excessive degree	too	not too long	not speak too loudly	-
the maximum degree	completely	not completely different	-	not completely finish or not finish completely
a greater / lesser degree than all others	most / least	not the most / least interesting	not the most / least carefully	e.g. I like this one (the) most
a greater / lesser degree than all others	most / least	not the most / least interesting	not the most / least carefully	not like the most
a large degree	very	not very beautiful	not paint very well	-
	really	not really beautiful	not paint really well	not really enjoy
	so	so beautiful	not paint so well	-
a sufficient or expected degree	enough	not hot enough	not quickly enough	not cook enough

---

"not really" can also mean "not in reality":

• "He's not a really good cook."
  Meaning: He is not a good cook to a large degree.
  vs.
  "He isn't really a good cook."
  Meaning: The reality is that he isn’t a good cook.
  
  
• "She isn’t really interested in the book."
  Meaning: the reality is that she isn’t interested in the book.
  
  
• "He isn’t really going to the party."
  Meaning: the reality is that he isn’t going to the party.

Further practice

Complete the sentences with the correct answer from a, b, c or d:

• That's a lovely jacket. It ____ you. .


very suits suits really really suits so suit



• They didn’t read the instructions ____.


so careful very carefully not very carefully not so careful



• It's the ____ book I’ve ever read.


really interesting so interesting more interesting most interesting



• He didn't arrive ____ to catch the train. .


early enough almost early nearly early very early



• The deadline has passed. It's ____ late to apply for the job.


so too very really



• Could you walk ____ please?


most slowly too slowly more slowly enough slowly

Check my answers