Degree Modifiers with Comparatives in Technical English
5 exercises — practise intensifying and downtoning comparatives when reporting benchmarks.
0 / 5 completed
1 / 5
Which sentence correctly uses a degree modifier to intensify a comparative describing performance improvement?
"...is far faster than the previous one" is correct: "far" is a standard degree modifier that intensifies a comparative adjective, and "faster" is already the correct one-word comparative form of "fast", so no additional "more" is needed. Option A incorrectly double-marks the comparative with both "more" and the "-er" suffix ("more faster"), which is a common but ungrammatical redundancy. Option C uses the base form "fast" instead of the comparative "faster", which doesn't work with "than". Option D again double-marks the comparative by combining "more" with the adjective instead of using "faster".
2 / 5
Which sentence correctly uses "nowhere near as...as" to express that a comparison falls well short of equality?
"...is nowhere near as reliable as production" is correct: "nowhere near" is a fixed intensifying phrase used before "as + adjective + as" comparisons to emphasize a large gap between the two things being compared. Option B omits the first "as", breaking the required "as...as" frame. Option C incorrectly mixes "as" with "than", which belong to two different comparison structures (equative and comparative) and cannot be combined. Option D scrambles the fixed phrase order to "nowhere as near", which is not standard English.
3 / 5
Which sentence correctly uses a downtoning degree modifier to describe a small, marginal difference in benchmark results?
"Version 2 is slightly faster than version 1" is correct: the adverb "slightly" correctly downtones the comparative adjective "faster", indicating a small difference. Option B incorrectly uses the adjective form "slight" instead of the adverb "slightly", which is needed to modify another adjective. Option C redundantly combines "more" with the already-comparative "fast" form used incorrectly (and "fast" isn't turned into "faster"), producing a double error. Option D uses the base adjective "fast" instead of the comparative "faster", which is required before "than".
4 / 5
Which sentence correctly uses "a lot" and "way" as informal intensifying degree modifiers before a comparative in a casual technical discussion?
"...a lot more maintainable and way easier to test" is correct: "a lot" and "way" are both informal degree modifiers that can intensify comparatives — here "more maintainable" (a multi-syllable adjective needing "more") and "easier" (already the correct one-word comparative of "easy"). Option B drops the comparative "more" before "maintainable", leaving just the base adjective, which doesn't express comparison. Option C incorrectly double-marks "easier" with an added "more" ("way more easier"), which is redundant. Option D misspells "a lot" as one word ("alot"), which is a common but nonstandard spelling error.
5 / 5
Which sentence correctly uses "considerably" and "marginally" as contrasting degree modifiers in the same comparative sentence?
"...considerably faster...but only marginally faster..." is correct: both "considerably" and "marginally" are adverbs correctly modifying the comparative adjective "faster" to show a contrast in degree between two dataset sizes. Option B incorrectly uses the adjective forms "considerable" and "marginal" instead of the required adverbs. Option C uses the base adjective "fast" instead of the comparative "faster" in both clauses, losing the comparison. Option D double-marks the comparative in both clauses by adding "more" before the already-comparative "faster", which is redundant in each case.