Intensifiers and Mitigators ESL Activities and Worksheets
ESL Intensifiers and Mitigators Worksheet - Reading and Writing Exercises - Pre-intermediate (A2) - 30 minutes
This intensifiers and mitigators worksheet uses the context of weather to help students learn how to make words and expressions sound stronger or weaker using intensifiers and mitigators. Go through the intensifiers and mitigators at the top of the worksheet with the students. Students then rewrite sentences, adding intensifiers in the correct position to modify weather adjectives. Next, the students rewrite sentences, adding mitigators in the correct position to modify other weather adjectives. After that, students choose intensifiers or mitigators and adjectives to help complete a set of sentences. The students then finish each sentence with an explanation. In the last exercise, students read a text about a day spent at the beach, underline the intensifiers, and circle the mitigators. Afterwards, make half the students 'intensifiers' and the other half 'mitigators'. Read the text aloud to the class. When you come to an intensifier or mitigator, the students assigned to that role read out the word.
ESL Too vs. Enough Worksheet - Reading and Writing Exercises - Pre-intermediate (A2) - 25 minutes
This free too and enough worksheet helps students to learn and practice too, too many, too much, and enough. Students start by underlining the correct form of 'enough' in a set of sentences. Students then move on to complete sentences with too, too many, or too much. After that, students write complete answers to questions using too, too many, or too much. In the next exercise, students write 'too' or 'enough' sentences that have the same meaning as the sentences shown. Lastly, students write sentences with too or enough that have an opposite meaning.
Interactive Version - Here is a free too vs. enough interactive worksheet to help students learn how to use too, enough, too much and too many.
ESL Too and Enough Activity - Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking - Pre-intermediate (A2) - 25 minutes
This too and enough information gap activity helps students practice too much, too many and enough. First, students look at a chart that shows items they expect a friend to have packed for them in a suitcase. The students identify the countable and uncountable items by putting a tick in the corresponding column in the chart. Working with a partner from the same group, students then look at the amount and number of items they have and use the language on the worksheet to talk about what's in and missing from their suitcase using too and enough. Next, students pair up with someone from the other group. Students ask their new partner about what is in their suitcase using 'How much...?' or 'How many...?', noting down their partner's answers in the appropriate column on the worksheet. Finally, students offer their partner items that they have too much of, too many of, or that their partner doesn't have enough of. Students also ask for items they need. As the students talk, they change the number and amount of each item in the chart. Finally, review the students' answers as a class to make sure that each student has an equal number or enough of each item.
ESL Adverbs of Degree Worksheet - Reading and Writing Exercise - Pre-intermediate (A2) - 20 minutes
In this adverbs of degree word order worksheet, students practice the position of intensifiers and mitigators in a sentence. Students rewrite each sentence on the worksheet, putting the intensifier or mitigator in brackets in its correct position. When the students have finished, check the answers with the class and review the meanings of the adverbs of degree.
ESL Too and Enough Activity - Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking - Intermediate (B1) - 25 minutes
In this too and enough activity, students find out classmates' restaurant complaints and make sentences about them with the intensifiers too and enough. In groups, students take on the role of the person on a character card who has a complaint to make about a horrible restaurant they have visited. The students' task is to find out the complaints of the other people in their group by asking questions and completing a chart with the information. Students go around their group asking and answering the questions and noting down the information in their chart. When the students have finished, they look at the information and complete sentences using words in brackets with too or enough. Finally, review the correct answers with the class.
ESL Intensifiers Worksheet - Reading and Writing Exercises - Intermediate (B1) - 25 minutes
In this free intensifiers worksheet, students identify intensifiers and use them to modify language and write about extreme sports. Working alone, students begin by reading a text about extreme sports and underlining all the intensifiers. There are 12 intensifiers in the text in total. Students then write down the intensifiers they found in the text. After that, students use their own ideas to complete sentences about extreme sports with an intensifier and an adjective. Students then move on to complete sentences by adding an intensifier with an adverb. Next, students rewrite sentences adding in an intensifier to modify an underlined word. In the last exercise, students complete sentences with a sport that fits the description in each sentence.
ESL Intensifiers and Mitigators Board Game - Miming and Speaking Activity - Intermediate (B1) - 25 minutes
In this intensifiers and mitigators board game, students use intensifiers, mitigators and adjectives to guess how exactly other students are feeling from mimes. The first player picks up a card and mimes the feeling on the card to the degree modified by the intensifier or mitigator. The other players then have one minute to guess how the person is feeling from the mime. The first player to say the sentence written on the card wins, e.g. 'You are completely exhausted'. The winner then rolls the dice and moves their counter along the board accordingly. It's then the next player's turn to pick up a card. The first player to reach the finish wins the game.
ESL Intensifiers and Mitigators Worksheet - Reading, Writing and Speaking Activity - Intermediate (B1) - 25 minutes
This intensifiers and mitigators worksheet helps students learn and practice how to emphasize words and expressions to make them weaker or stronger. Students begin by ordering intensifiers and mitigators 1 to 12, 1 being the weakest emphasis and 12 being the strongest emphasis. Next, students do a multiple-choice gap-fill exercise where they complete sentences with the most suitable intensifier or mitigator. Students then reorder words to make sentences with intensifiers and mitigators. After that, students use their own ideas to complete sentences with an intensifier or mitigator and an adjective. Finally, students take it in turns to ask 'What do you think about...?' questions with a partner to find out their answers from the previous exercise.
ESL Intensifiers and Mitigators Activity - Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking - Intermediate (B1) - 35 minutes
In this intensifiers and mitigators activity, students practice intensifiers and mitigators by grading and discussing romantic situations. The students read through the romantic situations on the worksheet and grade each one (1 to 5), according to how romantic they think it is (five is extremely romantic and one is not at all romantic). Students write their answers in the column marked 'You'. In pairs, students then discuss how romantic they think the situations are using target language at the bottom of the worksheet. Students mark their partner's grades as they go. Afterwards, students give feedback on the romantic situations they agreed on and didn't agree on. Next, each pair joins with another pair to form a group of four. The students collaborate to come up with a new extremely romantic situation, which they all agree on. Finally, the groups tell the class their extremely romantic situations. The other groups grade each one (1 to 5) and give feedback using intensifiers and mitigators.
ESL Intensifiers and Mitigators Activity - Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking - Intermediate (B1) - 40 minutes
In this communicative intensifiers and mitigators activity, students complete a worksheet and take part in a discussion where they modify comparative sentences about the past and present to make them stronger or weaker. First, students put intensifiers and mitigators into their correct category. After that, students complete sentences with suitable intensifiers or mitigators. Students then use their own ideas to complete sentences about the past and present with a noun and the correct form of the verb 'to be'. Next, in pairs, students take part in a discussion activity using cards. The students take it in turns to turn over a card and make a statement, expressing their opinion on the subject presented. They do this by creating a comparative sentence with the adjective provided along with an intensifier or mitigator to modify the comparison, e.g. 'In my opinion, modern cars are significantly more comfortable than cars made in the 90's.' The other student then agrees or disagrees with their partner's statement and the two students briefly discuss the topic. This process continues until all the cards have been used. Afterwards, there is a class feedback session to find out which topics caused the most debate.
ESL Too and Enough Activity - Reading, Matching, Writing, Listening and Speaking - Intermediate (B1) - 30 minutes
In this too and enough speaking activity, students complete a set of questions with the intensifiers 'too' or 'enough'. The students then ask and answer the questions with a partner. Working alone, students complete each question on the worksheet with 'too' or 'enough' and a word from the box. In pairs, the students then take it in turns to ask and answer the questions with their partner. Students note down their partner's answers on the worksheet and ask follow-up questions to gain more information. Afterwards, the students give feedback to the class on what they found out about their partner.
