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18愛的鼓勵 4訂閱站台

【明報專訊】看看下列表達意見的方法：

1. I agree with you.

2. I don't know what you want.

3. I can see why you are proposing this.

4. I like him.

再看看下列在句子內增加了一些副詞（adverb）的效果：

1. I entirely agree with you.

2. I honestly don't know what you want.

3. I definitely can see why you are proposing this.

4. I surely like him.

很明顯，加了副詞的句子更能強調自己對某事件或人物的看法。這類副詞在英語世界內稱 intensifier（加強語）。除了上列五個外，還有不少也很有用，如 actually、awfully、clearly、deucedly、emphatically、fabulously、genuinely、gloriously、immensely、incredibly、insanely、keenly、madly、magnificently、marvelously、splendidly、supremely、terrifically、truly、unquestionably、wonderfully 等等。在適當時機加入這些 intensifiers，更顯得詞鋒銳利，清晰表達自己的意見。

Intensifier 也分三大類，其一是 emphasiser（強調詞），如 definitely，目的在加重語氣，指出對人或事的看法有極強烈的意見。其二是 amplifiers（放大詞），如 absolutely，把意見絕對化，故又稱 maximisers（擴大詞）；其三是 downtoners（調低詞），如 partly，指出只是部分同意。試看看下列三句，用了不同的 intensifiers，是否顯示着不同的表態？

1. They absolutely support the idea of Direct Nomination for the Chief Executive election.

2. They clearly support the idea of Direct Nomination for the Chief Executive election.

3. They kind of support the idea of Direct Nomination for the Chief Executive election.

由 absolutely（完全地） 到 clearly（清晰地）至 kind of（有點兒）支持，正正是英語的表達藝術，不同程度的 intensifiers，便可說得一清二楚。

考考你：辨別下列句中的 加強語是 (A) emphasisers、(B) amplifiers， 還是 (C) downtoners。

1. He is a completely idiotic politician.

2. They actually didn't believe in universal suffrage.

3. I quite like him, except for his occasionally rude remarks.

4. He obviously dislikes the idea of getting married.

5. I'm thoroughly fed up with you !

6. To some extent they agree to your suggestion.

文︰韓連山

退休中學教師，任教英文多年，盼為讀者帶來最輕鬆有趣的英語學習體驗

資料來源：http://news.mingpao.com/20140425/emb1.htm