Softening 1

By admin 16 comments

Sometimes you want to soften the impact of what you are saying and give it less importance. Here are some ways to do that:

Little

The quality could have been a little better.
The speaker should have spoken a little louder.

Slight

There is a slight problem we need to deal with.
I have a slight doubt about John’s suitability for the job.

Minor

I have a minor reservation about this plan.
There are a few minor problems still to be dealt with.

Fairly

There are some fairly important changes still to be made.
I think that I have a fairly good understanding of your problems.

Quite

I quite like it but no more than that.
This is quite a good way to do this.

Not quite

He isn’t quite as good as he thinks he is.
I’m not quite sure that we are on the right lines.

Partially

He has been partially successful with his demands but he didn’t get everything he wanted.
It is partially finished but there is still a lot to do.

Occasional

There are occasional errors in his work.
Everybody makes occasional mistakes.

Rather

He is rather aggressive.
This is rather too complicated. It is difficult to understand.

More or less

The report is more or less finished. I just need to read through it again.
He is more or less useless. Cannot get anything right.

exercise 1

exercise 2

exercise 3

exercise 4

16 Comments

sarah

Jun 6, 2012, 9:33 am

please write against each word what it really means

admin

Jun 6, 2012, 9:56 am

I am not a dictionary ;-). But this is

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/slight

José E. Simone

Jun 6, 2012, 1:53 pm

I always say that to my students… I’m not a dictionary… Haha

admin

Jun 6, 2012, 5:24 pm

It is so easy to find things on Google. I don’t understand why people use the Internet to ask me word definitions 😉

Felipe Betancourt

Jun 6, 2012, 9:12 pm

I completely agree with you, LOL

changeling

Jun 6, 2012, 10:27 am

Very useful stuff….thanks:)

Student

Jun 6, 2012, 5:22 pm

You are really helping me a lot.. Thank you 🙂

mahipal

Jun 6, 2012, 4:15 am

thanks .for such a good stuff.
mahipal.india

haltar

Jun 6, 2012, 8:35 am

thank you

Chalani

Jun 6, 2012, 11:30 am

thx 🙂

Natasha

Jun 6, 2012, 8:19 pm

Famous English Underestimation! 🙂

Sonia S Tsuha

Jun 6, 2012, 1:08 pm

Dear Pearson,

Your lessons are quite refreshing. When it’s too hot think about your son’s surfing. Many thanks for all the help and your dedication. With gratitude, Sonia.

tomas rafael

Jul 7, 2012, 7:18 am

thank you for the lesson. i want more

thushani

Sep 9, 2012, 2:10 pm

Dear Parson,
Thank you very much for the lesson.

Paul saw thang

May 5, 2013, 7:46 am

thank you for the lesson

Jonida

Jun 6, 2013, 10:28 am

Thank you for the lessons, I’ts a big help for me 🙂

Comments are closed.