Have you ever noticed that your ESL students tend to use the same adjectives over and over again? They might say that something is good, bad, big, or interesting, but struggle to express just how good, bad, big, or interesting something really is.

That’s where intensifiers come in!

Intensifiers are words that make adjectives, adverbs, and sometimes verbs stronger or weaker. They help students add emphasis, express emotions, and sound more natural in everyday conversations.

Teaching intensifiers is a great way to expand your students’ vocabulary and improve their conversation skills. Here are some simple explanations and practical examples to help you get started.

1) Start with the Basics: What Are Intensifers?

Begin by explaining that intensifiers are words we use to change the strength or degree of another word.

For example:

• It’s cold.
• It’s very cold.
• It’s extremely cold.
• It’s freezing cold.

Each sentence communicates a similar idea, but the intensity becomes stronger.

Some common intensifiers include:

Intensifier	Example
Very	Very happy
Really	Really interesting
Extremely	Extremely difficult
So	So beautiful
Too	Too expensive
Quite	Quite good
Absolutely	Absolutely amazing
Incredibly	Incredibly talented

It’s also worth teaching students that not all intensifiers work with every adjective. For example, we generally say “absolutely exhausted” rather than “very exhausted” in natural English.

You can introduce these differences gradually as students become more comfortable with the basics.

2) Teach the Difference Between Strong and Weak Intensifiers

One of the most useful lessons is helping students understand that intensifiers have different levels of strength.

Try drawing a simple intensity scale on your shared screen:

A little → Quite → Very → Extremely → Absolutely

Then give students an adjective, such as “tired,” and ask them to create sentences using different intensifiers and to give a reason.

For example:

• I’m a little tired because I slept an hour later than usual.
• I’m quite tired because I had to get up early to catch a flight.
• I’m very tired because I stayed up finishing an assignment.
• I’m extremely tired because my baby wouldn’t stop crying last night.
• I’m absolutely exhausted because I haven’t slept well in days.

Explain that some adjectives are already very strong, such as freezing, starving, terrified, and exhausted. These are often called extreme adjectives and they typically pair with intensifiers like absolutely and completely rather than very.

For example:

• Very cold → Freezing
• Very hungry → Starving
• Very scared → Terrified
• Very tired → Exhausted
• Very funny → Hilarious

This is a great opportunity to introduce new vocabulary while helping students make their English sounds more expressive.

3) Explain Common Intensifiers in Everyday English

Once students understand the concept, introduce some common intensifiers and explain how their meanings differ.

Really vs. Very

Both can make adjectives stronger, and they are often interchangeable.

• The movie is really good.
• The movie is very good.

However, really is more common in informal conversations.

Too vs. Very

This is an important distinction because students often confuse these two words.

• The coffee is very hot. (It’s hot, but that’s not necessarily a problem.)
• The coffee is too hot. (It’s hotter than I would like it to be.)

Explain that too often suggests something is excessive or undesirable.

So vs. Such

Both can add emphasis, but they follow different grammatical structures.

• The weather is so beautiful!
• It’s such a beautiful day!

A simple way to remember the difference:

• So + adjective/adverb
• Such + (a/an) + adjective + noun

Absolutely vs. Completely

These are commonly used with strong adjectives and certain other words.

• That’s absolutely incredible!
• I’m completely exhausted.
• You’re absolutely right!

Encourage students to pay attention to these combinations when listening to native English speakers.

Intensifiers may seem like a small part of English grammar, but they can make a big difference in helping students communicate more naturally and expressively.

We hope these tips will be helpful in your ESL classes! Stay tuned for Part 2 next week, where we’ll share fun and interactive activities to help your students practice using intensifiers in real-life conversations.