Mitigators
Mitigators are the opposite of intensifiers. When we want to make an adjective less strong we use these words: fairly, rather, quite
- By the end of the day, we were rather tired.
- The film wasn't great, but it was quite exciting.
and in informal English: pretty
- We had a pretty good time at the party.
Quite
When we use quite with a normal adjective, it makes the adjective less strong:
- The food was quite bad.
- (= The food was bad but not very bad.)
- My nephew is quite clever.
- (= My nephew is clever but not very clever.)
But when we use quite with a strong adjective, it means the same as absolutely:
- The food was quite awful.
- (= The food was absolutely awful.)
- As a child he was quite brilliant.
- (= As a child he was absolutely brilliant.)
Mitigators with comparatives
We use these words and phrases as mitigators:
| a bit |
rather |
| just a bit |
slightly |
| a little |
just a little bit |
| a little bit |
|
- She's a bit younger than I am.
- It takes two hours on the train but it is a little bit longer by road.
- This one is rather bigger.
We use slightly and rather as mitigators with comparative adjectives in front of a noun:
- This is a slightly more expensive model than that.
- This is a rather bigger one than that.