5 exercises — practise the ironic understatement "none too".
0 / 5 completed
1 / 5
Which sentence correctly uses "none too" to ironically understate that a rollout went badly?
"The rollout was none too smooth..." correctly places the bare adjective "smooth" directly after the fixed downtoner "none too". Option B wrongly inserts the article "a". Option C reverses the word order. Option D wrongly uses the comparative "smoother" instead of the base adjective.
2 / 5
Which sentence correctly uses "none too" before an adverb to describe how a service is responding?
"...responding none too quickly..." correctly follows "none too" with the adverb "quickly" to match the verb "responding". Option B wrongly uses the adjective form "quick" where an adverb is required. Option C reverses the word order. Option D wrongly inserts an article before the adverb.
3 / 5
Which sentence correctly distinguishes the ironic understatement "none too" (meaning "not very") from a literal reading with "not" plus "too" (meaning "not excessively")?
"...went none too smoothly, though... it was not too rushed either" correctly keeps the fixed downtoner "none too" intact in the first clause and uses the separate, literal "not too" in the second. The other options scramble the word order of one or both fixed phrases.
4 / 5
Which sentence correctly uses "none too" to describe a manager's ironic understated reaction to a missed deadline?
"The manager was none too pleased..." correctly uses the past participle adjective "pleased" right after "none too". Option B wrongly inserts "a". Option C scrambles the word order. Option D wrongly substitutes "pleasing" for "pleased", changing the meaning.
5 / 5
Which sentence correctly uses "none too" to understate confidence in a fragile deployment script?
"...is none too reliable..." correctly follows "none too" with the adjective "reliable" to match the linking verb "is". Option B wrongly uses the adverb "reliably". Option C reverses the word order. Option D wrongly inserts "much" inside the fixed downtoner.