Repeating a Modifier for Degree or Distribution

Level 4

Repeating a modifier does not always mean very.

How It Works

Read the Whole Phrase
A repeated modifier may describe a group of things that share a quality, the manner of an action, or an emphatic quality. Its meaning is not obtained by translating the word twice.

Compare the Examples
Small small pieces describes pieces that are small. Slow slow with an instruction can ask for a careful or unhurried manner. The relevant reading comes from the noun or action around it.

Keep the Pattern Bounded
Not every adjective has a natural repeated form, and not every repetition expresses a higher degree. A single adjective with very remains an available, different choice.

Examples (3)

  1. Cut the paper into small small pieces.

    Cut the paper into little pieces.

    The repeated modifier describes the pieces the action should produce.

  2. Carry the bowl slow slow.

    Carry the bowl slowly and carefully.

    The modifier tells the listener how to carry it.

  3. The boxes all big big, cannot fit here.

    The boxes are all big and will not fit here.

    The description concerns the size of the boxes in the group.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Repeating a Modifier for Degree or DistributionLevel 4

Learn This First

Identify the quality being modified before reading a context-sensitive repeated modifier.