Modifying an adjective for hedging with a degree adverb involves using an adverb to soften or weaken the strength or certainty of an adjective. This technique is often used in communication to express caution, uncertainty, or to avoid making absolute statements.
By adding a degree adverb, we can create a more nuanced or less definitive description. Some common degree adverbs used for hedging include “slightly,” “somewhat,” “fairly,” “quite,” “rather,” “a bit,” “a little,” and “possibly.”
Here are a few examples of modifying adjectives for hedging with degree adverbs:
- “It is quite expensive.” (The degree adverb “quite” softens the adjective “expensive” by suggesting that it is more than average, but not excessively so.)
- “She is somewhat disappointed.” (The degree adverb “somewhat” suggests a moderate level of disappointment, but not to an extreme degree.)
- “The movie was a little boring.” (The degree adverb “a little” implies a small degree of boredom, but not overwhelmingly so.)
- “He is possibly mistaken.” (The degree adverb “possibly” introduces an element of doubt, indicating that there is a chance he might be wrong.)
Here are examples of hedging assertions that you can also listen to:
I’m almost certain that it was him.
You seem pretty sure of yourself.
C1 point 210 in MODALITY on the English Grammar Profile is based on:
MODIFYING an ADJECTIVE for HEDGING with a degree adverb.
We are offered only two examples: ‘quite probable’ and ‘almost certain.’ Since this is in the category of modality, this point requires a weakening of the user’s certainty. ‘quite’ is listed at A2 as a degree adverb in the EGP.
One meaning of ‘quite‘ before an adjective from Google:
to a certain or fairly significant extent or degree; fairly.
One meaning of ‘fairly‘:
to a moderately high degree.
This grammar point also overlaps adjective + adverb for emphasis.
Collocates 4 sides to the left and right on iWeb corpus for “quite probable“:
1 IT (PPH1 ) 528
2 SEEMS (VVZ ) 31
3 POSSIBLE (JJ ) 20
4 YOULL (VV0_NN1 ) 10
5 THEREFORE (RR ) 9
“Almost Certain”
These 2 words draw much more negative vocabulary. Death, Failure, Defeat, Destruction and Doom are the most common collocates.
1 ‘M (VBM ) 1209
2 AM (VBM ) 825
3 DEATH (NN1 ) 628
4 SEEMS (VVZ ) 392
5 FAILURE (NN1 ) 90
6 FAIL (VVI ) 73
7 DEFEAT (NN1 ) 54
8 FACING (VVG ) 54
9 DESTRUCTION (NN1 ) 44
10 DOOM (NN1 ) 31
Degree adverbs are included below, but they will not all be appropriate to hedging with the right types of adjectives, so we have added certain|probable only to our inital iWeb searches. Then searched for other adjectives that suggest modality.
A2:
almost|badly|enough|far|just|least|less|most|nearly|pretty|quite|so
1 ALMOST CERTAIN 14337
2 PRETTY CERTAIN 5005
3 MOST PROBABLE 4500
4 QUITE CERTAIN 4323
5 LESS CERTAIN 3687
6 SO CERTAIN 3357
7 MOST CERTAIN 1483
8 JUST CERTAIN 1384
9 QUITE PROBABLE 670
10 LESS PROBABLE 656
2 PRETTY SURE 125824
5 ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE 50883
Productivity has wrapped itself up in our self-worth so that it‘s almost impossible for us to allow ourselves to stop working.
8 QUITE SURE 36290
15 PRETTY CLEAR 21686
B1:
absolutely|completely|extremely|fairly|fully|hardly|indeed|perfectly|rather|terribly|totally
1 FAIRLY CERTAIN 8572
2 ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN 5840
3 COMPLETELY CERTAIN 746
4 PERFECTLY CERTAIN 246
5 TOTALLY CERTAIN 199
6 RATHER CERTAIN 165
7 EXTREMELY PROBABLE 143
8 FULLY CERTAIN 120
9 INDEED CERTAIN 70
10 HARDLY PROBABLE 60 (too strong for hedging?)
B2:
barely|deeply|entirely|greatly|highly|incredibly|positively|practically|simply|strongly|thoroughly|virtually
1 HIGHLY PROBABLE 2473
2 ENTIRELY CERTAIN 1100
3 VIRTUALLY CERTAIN 1066
4 PRACTICALLY CERTAIN 175
5 ENTIRELY PROBABLE 96
6 POSITIVELY CERTAIN 53