Lesson Transcript

Hi, everybody! My name is Alisha.
In this lesson, I'm going to review a lot of emphasis words.
In this lesson, I'm going to talk about "very, really, quite, pretty, so, and such."
I'm going to talk about the various parts of speech that we use these words with and share some example sentences.
Let's get started.
Okay. First, I want to talk about "very" and "really."
You may have seen another video that we have on the channel that talks about the differences between "very" and really." For some more information about these points, please check that video.
To review here, however, we use "very" to modify adjectives and adverbs.
We do not use very to modify verbs.
So, some example sentences:
First, as an adverb, here we have "well."
"She sings very well."
She sings very well.
With an adjective, "fast."
"He is a very fast runner."
So we can use "very" to modify adverbs and adjectives.
Here, "well" and "fast" are my adverb and my adjective, respectively.
Let's compare this to "really," really.
"Really" is used to modify adjectives and adverbs, the same as "very."
However, "really" is used to modify verbs also.
So let's look at example sentences:
"She sings really well."
She sings really well.
This is the same as the "very" example. They have the same meaning.
"He is a really fast runner."
He is a really fast runner.
Again, the same adjective here. I've simply changed "really" from "very."
So, these sentences, they have the same feeling and the same meaning. You can choose which you prefer to use.
Now, let's look at these two examples. These two examples are examples which use verbs modified by "really."
First:
"We really like Italian food."
We really like Italian food.
"Like" is a verb. "Really" modifies it. We give emphasis to "like" with the word "really" here.
One more example:
"Our dog really loves you."
Our dog really loves you.
My verb is "loves" and I'm modifying the verb with "really" here.
"My dog really loves you."
So, we can use "very" in this way.
We cannot… I'm sorry, we can use "really" in this way.
We cannot use "very" in this way.
So, adjectives and adverbs are okay. Adjectives, adverbs, and verbs are all okay with "really."
So, with this in mind, let's continue to the next two points.
The first one here is "quite," quite.
Like with "really," we can use "quite" to modify adjectives and adverbs.
It sounds a little more formal than very, in American English.
And we can use "quite" to modify verbs too.
This point, modifying verbs with "quite" is perhaps a little more commonly done in British English. We may, from time to time, use this in American English, but you may hear this more often in British English.
So, let's look at some examples.
First:
"She sings quite well."
She sings quite well.
Again, "well" is my adverb here, I modify it with "quite." So this sounds a little more formal or a little more polite than "very," at least in American English.
Second:
"He is quite a fast runner."
He's quite a fast runner.
So here, "quite" is modifying the adjective, "quite a fast runner," quite a fast runner. And keep in mind, I'm using this pattern, this "a + (adjective) + noun" pattern. If this adjective begins with a vowel sound, we need to change this article to "an."
"He is quite a fast runner."
So, this is how we would use it with "quite" to mean the same thing as "very," but more polite.
Let's look at how we use it with verbs.
"We quite like Italian food."
We quite like Italian food.
Again, "like" is my verb. "Quite" modifies it. It sounds quite polite. It sounds quite polite, so there I used it in this way, "It sounds quite polite."
Lastly:
"Our dog quite likes you."
Our dog quite likes you.
So again, I've used the verb "like" here. I used "love" before, but "quite likes you." You might hear that from time to time, that expression, "I quite like you" or "I quite like that thing." This is kind of a common expression that we use perhaps more in British English, but from time to time, in American English as well.
So keep in mind, in American English, "quite" sounds a little bit more formal than "very" or "really," but this is how we use it.
Okay. So, let's continue on then to "pretty," pretty.
Please keep in mind, this "pretty" here, this is being used as an emphasis word. It does not mean like physical appearance, like "That flower is pretty" or "He/She is very pretty." We are not using it in that way. That's used as… or that, it's used as an adjective. "She's pretty." "The flower is pretty." "The sunset is pretty." This a different use of pretty.
This use of "pretty" is for emphasis.
We can use "pretty" to modify adjectives and adverbs. It's probably a little below "very" or "quite" in strength of meaning. So, I said "quite" is fairly polite in American English. Maybe "very" is next and "pretty" would be under "very" in this case.
We cannot use "pretty" to modify verbs, so please don't use this to modify a verb or to try to modify a verb.
For example:
"She sings pretty well."
She sings pretty well.
So it has kind of a casual feel to it. She sings pretty well.
And:
"He's a pretty fast runner."
He's a pretty fast runner.
So again, that sort of casual feel. Here, you can see as well, I've moved my article, this is okay to do. In this case, it's more natural to use the article before the emphasis word.
"He is a pretty fast runner."
So, please try to remember these small points, these small differences with these words.
"He's a pretty fast runner."
So we would not say - "He is pretty a fast runner."
We would say - "He is a pretty fast runner."
If you use "He is pretty a fast runner," there would be some confusion, because, as I talked about earlier like the expression, "she is pretty, he is pretty, the sunset is pretty," it begins with this, "He is pretty a fast runner," it causes some confusion.
So, if you're gonna use "pretty" to modify a noun in this way, put your article before "pretty." So, "this is a pretty…," "he is a pretty..." to make your emphasis statement there. That's going to sound much, much better. That's the correct way to make your emphasis statement with "pretty."
Okay. So, let's continue on to the next point there. The next point is "so," so.
So, we use "so" to connect words as I just did. We also use "so" to modify adjectives and adverbs.
So, from all of the words on this whiteboard here, "so" is the most casual, and you'll often hear native speakers, when they say "so," they make the O sound really long to emphasize even more. So not just "so," "so pretty" or "so good." We'll say, "soooo" for emphasis. So, I'll give you an example of that in a moment. We cannot use this to modify verbs, so please be careful of this point too.
Some examples here:
"She sings so well!"
She sings so well.
So in this case, adverb (well), and "so."
"She sings so well!"
Here:
"He is so fast!"
He is so fast.
So, you'll notice in this one, not:
"He is so a fast runner."
We do not use it in that way.
We tend to use "so" more before a sentence-ending adjective. It sounds a bit more natural to use it in this way.
So, for example, here:
"He is so a quite runner."
Or...I'm sorry.
"He is so a fast runner."
We would not use it in this way. We use it directly before the adjective like this and it's very commonly found at the end of a sentence, so please try to keep this point in mind when you're using "so" and when you're listening to "so" too.
Okay. Lastly, I want to talk about "such," such.
"Such" is a little bit different from the other words I've talked about here. We can use "such" to modify adjectives, yes, and again, we're doing this before nouns with "a" and "an" as I've talked about before. So we saw this here, "a fast runner," so my adjective is here, my noun is here, and my article "a" or "an" is here. We're going to see that here as well. We need to use this pattern here with "such."
We cannot use "such" to modify adverbs.
So, in this example…or rather in this lesson, I've been using "well" as my adverb, but we cannot use "such" to modify adverbs.
So, final point here, modifying verbs, we also cannot use "such" to modify verbs, so please don't do that.
Let's look at some examples of how we might use "such" to modify adjectives before nouns.
First:
"She is such a good singer."
She is such a good singer.
So here, you'll notice "such" follows my verb (is) and then, I have an article (a), my adjective is "good" and I have the noun "singer" here. So, "a good singer." "Such" is emphasizing "good" here.
"She's such a good singer."
She's such a good singer.
Next example:
"He is such a fast runner."
He is such a fast runner.
So this has the same feel as this one, but it sounds a little bit more friendly.
So "quite" sounds fairly polite. "Such" sounds a little more friendly.
"He's such a fast runner."
Finally:
"This is such an amazing dinner."
This is such an amazing dinner.
Here, my adjective is "amazing." It begins with a vowel sound, so I need to use "an," "an amazing dinner."
So you'll notice, in each of these, with "such," "such" comes after the verb. So please make sure, when you're making your sentences, "such" comes after your verb. So don't put it before, put it directly after the verb.
You'll see it here with "so" too.
"She sings so well."
"He is so fast."
It comes directly after the verb so please keep that in mind, particularly with these two over here.
Okay. So, this is a quick introduction to the various parts of speech that we use these words with. I hope that you can find maybe some good hints for how and when to use these emphasis words. As far as American English goes, we use "very" a lot, "really" a lot. We use "pretty," "so," and "such" as well. I would say "quite" is maybe the least used from this group and maybe "such" as well too, from time to time, we use "such" too, but maybe these four would be good to focus on first and then consider these two for the next parts of your studies.
Thanks very much for watching this lesson and I will see you again soon. Bye-bye!

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