Language: grammar and vocabulary
Choosing the precise word
Replace a vague intensifier and a weak adjective with the single word that says it properly.
Very is a word that borrows force from the word next to it and gives nothing back. Very tired, very cold, very frightened: each of these is a writer reaching for a stronger word, not finding it, and propping up a weak one instead. English almost always has the stronger word already.
The rule
Two words in, one word out. Very hot becomes scorching. Very small becomes tiny. Very wet becomes soaked. The sentence gets shorter and stronger at the same time, which is unusual and worth noticing.
The precise word already contains the very
You do not write very enormous or very freezing, because enormous already means very big and freezing already means very cold. If very sounds wrong in front of a word, that word is the precise one you were looking for.
Precise, not merely longer
The point is accuracy, not a longer word. Ancient is the precise word for a ruin; elderly is the precise word for a person; neither will do the other's job. A long word used loosely is worse than very plus a short one.
The same trap wears other clothes
Really, so, extremely and totally do exactly what very does. Really cold is no better than very cold. Watch for all four.
Worked example
Sharpen: "By the end of the match the players were very tired and the crowd was very loud."
Find the intensifiers: very tired, very loud.
There are two of them in one sentence, which is usually a sign the writer was in a hurry.
Try it together
Sharpen three phrases in a row.
Each step names the first letter of the word you want, so there is only one right answer. Write one word each time.
1.The winning goal made the crowd very happy. Write the single word beginning with d that replaces "very happy".
Have a go
"The last bus home was very crowded." Which single word replaces the last two?
Ready to practise?
Eight questions on what you have just read. Nothing is timed, and you can play as many times as you like.