Special Uses of Some Adverbs

1.  Too and Very

‘Too’ is used to denote ‘more than is required’. It is often followed by the word ‘to’. It has a negative connotation.

Examples:

·         You ate too much.

·         He is too slow.

·         The person sounds too good to be true.

·         He is too weak to go to school.

·         I was too exhausted to finish the project.

‘Too’ can frequently be used in place of ‘also’ / ‘as well’.

·         She is not only intelligent, she is also sincere.

·         She is not only intelligent she is sincere as well.

·         She is not only intelligent, she is sincere too.

‘Very’ is used to denote a great degree and usually has a positive connotation.

Examples:

·         She is very beautiful.

·         The boy is very hard working.

2. Fairly, Rather

‘Fairly’ is used in moderate sense to denote good sense with pleasant connotation. It is used in an Affirmative sense.

Examples:

·         He is doing fairly well in school.

·         The weather is holding fairly well, so far.

‘Rather’ is used in moderate sense to denote bad sense with unpleasant connotation. It is used in a Negative sense.

Examples:

·         I would rather die than do this.

·         He performs rather hopelessly.

3.  Before, Ago

‘Before’ is used as an Adverb in the preference to, placing a higher priority on one, rather than other or in sense of time , earlier than a particular time, event or action, without a following Noun.

Examples:

·         He appears before her in the hierarchy of organisational structure.

·         Eat your vegetables before you touch your dessert.

·         I had worked with him once before.

‘Ago’ is used only as an Adverb and has one primary function .The usage of ‘Ago’ is more formal in structure and is used in the sense of ‘before the present’.

Examples:

·         He left the school a long time ago.

·         He got on the bus a little while ago.

Much, Very

‘Much’ is used in question and negative contexts to talk about degrees of something. It is frequently used at the end of sentences.

Examples:

·         I do not like Mumbai much.

·         How much are you charging for this plumbing job?

‘Very’ is used in appositive sense to denote a high degree.

Example:

·         I am very excited about the new job.

So, Quite

‘So’ is a degree adverb that modifies adjectives and other adverbs.

Examples:

·         Why are you making it sound so difficult?

·         Why do you have to be so unkempt?

‘Quite’ is used as an Adverb to denote a great degree, very, really.

Examples:

·         I am quite happy over here on my own.

·         Are you quite sure you want us to do this?

English Grammar and Composition

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