To tip or not to tip? Adverbs of degree: a bit, fairly, pretty and quite

Q: What are adverbs of degree?

Adverbs of degree are words such as a bit , fairly , pretty , quite and extremely : they say how strong an adjective or adverb is . The fries were a bit cold. The check was fairly high. Tipping is extremely common in US restaurants. The B1 lesson To tip or not to tip? on edio.ai teaches them with a diner meal, its check and the tip.

Q: Where do adverbs of degree go in a sentence?

They go right before the adjective or adverb they change : The food was pretty good. Riley does math pretty fast. With a or an and a noun, most of them follow the article, as in a fairly busy diner , but quite goes in front of it: quite a busy diner . Extreme adjectives such as delicious take absolutely or really .

Q: Which adverbs of degree can go before a comparative?

Use a bit , a little , slightly or much before a comparative: Tonight the check was a bit higher than last time. This diner is much cheaper than the one downtown. Very and pretty don't work there, so very cheaper and pretty faster are mistakes. The gap-fill of small and big differences in To tip or not to tip? , a B1 lesson on edio.ai, practices them.

Q: What's the difference between quite and pretty?

They differ in strength and in word order . Pretty is medium to strong and very common in speech: The food was pretty good. In American English, quite often means “very”: The service was quite fast. With a noun, quite comes before a , and pretty comes after it: quite a big tip , a pretty big tip . Both forms are drilled in To tip or not to tip? on edio.ai.

Q: Is it “quite a big tip” or “a quite big tip”?

It's quite a big tip : quite sits in front of the article , and a quite big tip is a common mistake. The other degree adverbs stay after it: a pretty big tip , a very long wait . Watch a and an too: quite an old custom . The table in To tip or not to tip? on edio.ai has learners write both patterns for eight noun phrases.

Q: What restaurant vocabulary should B1 learners know?

Start with the words for the end of a meal : the check , the paper with the price, a tip for the server , and split , as in Let's split the check. A good server is attentive , a customer who leaves a lot is generous , and a moment when everyone looks at you is awkward . To tip or not to tip? on edio.ai teaches them with pictures and audio.

Q: How do I teach adverbs of degree to B1 students?

Start with a scale and real opinions : draw a line from a bit to extremely and let students rate a meal, a movie or a bus ride. Then show the two traps: a bit with good things, and a quite big tip . To tip or not to tip? on edio.ai goes from a feature on tipping and a diner dialogue to the scheme, a table of quite a and three more drills.

Q: What's a good game for practicing adverbs of degree?

Rate it out loud : one student names something, such as the school lunch or today's weather, and the next one rates it with a degree adverb: It's a bit cold. It's pretty good. Each answer must use a new adverb. In To tip or not to tip? on edio.ai, open boxes add prompts like Describe a restaurant or café you like , with pretty , quite , a bit and really .

Q: What's good homework for adverbs of degree?

Good homework mixes the scale with word order : adverbs to choose in new sentences, gaps that put a or an before or after the adverb, and sentences to unjumble, such as It was / quite an / exciting game / last night. In To tip or not to tip? on edio.ai, all ten homework tasks check themselves, and the last one is a tipping guide for visitors.

This B1 ESL lesson plan teaches adverbs of degree, from a bit and fairly to quite and extremely, through tipping in America.

Grammar: A bit, fairly, pretty, quite, rather and extremely before adjectives and adverbs (The check was fairly high.), a bit or much + comparative, and quite a big tip next to a pretty big tip.
Topic: Who Americans tip, how often and why visitors have to learn the custom, with words such as server, check, split and generous.
Activities: A feature to read, a diner dialogue and a server's voice message to hear, self-checking drills, a visitor's chat, a sort of small problems and good things, and open boxes.

What's inside

Chapter 1Warm-up: the check, please!
- PictureUnlock
- Spin the wheel and answerSpin the wheelUnlock
- Study the words: at the dinerVocabularyTry it
- Look at the pictures and choose the wordChoose by pictureUnlock
Chapter 2Let's read: tipping, explained
- Look at the picture: a busy American dinerPictureUnlock
- Read Riley's feature on the show's websiteArticleUnlock
- Read and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock
- Read again and choose the right answerQuizUnlock
Chapter 3Let's listen: who does the math?
- Listen to Riley and DariusListeningTry it
- Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
- Listen and choose the right answerQuizUnlock
- Listen to the Listener's Take: Graciela's messageListeningUnlock
- Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
- Listen and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock
Chapter 4Grammar: pretty good, quite a big tip
- Study the scheme: a bit, fairly, pretty, quiteGrammar schemeTry it
- Choose the correct optionChoose the optionUnlock
- Fill in the table: a pretty big tip or quite a big tipFill in the tableTry it
- Fill in the gaps: small and big differencesFill in the gapsUnlock
- Choose the correct answer: how strong is it?QuizUnlock
Chapter 5Let's talk: tips about tips
- Choose the right replies: a visitor asks about tippingChatTry it
- Sort the words into the correct columns: good things or small problems?Sort into columnsUnlock
- Open a box and answerOpen the boxUnlock
Chapter 6Homework
- Match the words and the meaningsMatchUnlock
- Unscramble the wordsAnagramUnlock
- Fill in the gaps with the lesson's wordsFill in the gapsUnlock
- Find the matching pairs: words and meaningsMemory gameUnlock
- Choose the correct option: new sentencesChoose the optionUnlock
- Fill in the gaps: the adverb and a or anFill in the gapsUnlock
- Put the words in the correct orderUnjumbleUnlock
- Choose the correct answer: which sentence is right?QuizUnlock
- Drag the words into the gaps: Riley and Darius answer GracielaDrag and dropUnlock
- Choose the correct option: a quick guide for visitorsChoose the optionUnlock

Restaurant vocabulary

12 words and phrases from the lesson, each with a picture and audio in edio.

+9 more with pictures and audio in the lessonMore words

check
dollar bill
barber
delivery driver
income
calculator
generous
attentive
awkward

Grammar: adverbs of degree before adjectives and adverbs

Adverbs of degree make an adjective or an adverb weaker or stronger: a bit slow, fairly high, pretty good, extremely common. Over a meal and its check, learners place each adverb on a scale from a little to a lot, keep a bit for problems and comparatives, and learn where quite goes with a and an.

A bit slow, pretty good, quite a big tip

Degree adverbs say how strong an adjective or an adverb is: a bit slow, fairly high, pretty good, quite fast, really busy, extremely common.

From a little to a lot

A bit, a little and slightly mean a small amount; fairly means OK, but not very; pretty is medium to strong and very common in speech. In American English, quite often means “very”: The service was quite fast. Rather is more formal.

From a little to a lot

Adverb	How strong?	Example
a bit, a little	a small amount, mostly for problems	The fries were a bit cold.
slightly	a small amount (a little more formal)	The diner is slightly noisy tonight.
fairly	medium: OK, but not very	The check was fairly high.
pretty	medium to strong; very common when people talk	The food was pretty good.
quite	in American English, it often means “very”	The service was quite fast.
rather	medium to strong; more formal, often in writing	Tipping can be rather confusing for visitors.
very, really	strong	Our server was really attentive.
extremely	very, very strong	Tipping is extremely common in US restaurants.

At the diner

Tipping is pretty normal here.
The service was a bit slow.
The check was fairly high.
Darius left quite a big tip.
Let's tip a bit more tonight.
The pie was absolutely delicious.

A bit for problems, a bit more for comparisons

A bit, a little and slightly go with negative ideas (a little cold, slightly expensive), not with good ones like delicious. Before a comparative, use a bit, slightly or much: a bit higher, much cheaper, never very cheaper.

a bit, a little, slightly: for problems

Use a bit, a little and slightly with negative ideas: a bit slow, a little cold, slightly expensive. With a positive adjective, they sound wrong: not a bit delicious, not slightly attentive. Say really delicious, very attentive. With a comparative, they're fine: a bit better, slightly cheaper.

With comparatives: a bit more, much faster

a bit / a little / slightly / muchcomparative

Tonight the check was a bit higher than last time.

Let's tip a little more tonight.

This diner is much cheaper than the one downtown.

Quite a big tip, a pretty big tip

With a or an and a noun, quite comes before the article: quite a big tip, quite an attentive server. The other adverbs come after it: a pretty big tip, a very long wait, a fairly busy diner.

a / an + adverb + adjective + noun

a pretty big tip
a very long wait
a fairly busy diner
a really attentive server

quite + a / an + adjective + noun

quite a big tip
quite a long wait
quite a busy diner
quite an attentive server

Before adverbs, and with extreme adjectives

The same words go before adverbs: Riley does math pretty fast. People split the check quite often. Extreme adjectives take absolutely or really: absolutely delicious. And pretty much means “almost”, so it's pretty expensive, not pretty much expensive.

Before adverbs too, but not very + comparative

These words also go before adverbs: Riley does math pretty fast. People split the check quite often. Darius tips extremely generously. Before a comparative, use a bit, a little, slightly or much: a bit faster, much faster (not: very faster, pretty faster).

Extreme adjectives and “pretty much”

Extreme adjectives (delicious, awful, freezing, huge) take absolutely or really: absolutely delicious (not: a bit delicious). And pretty goes straight before the adjective: pretty expensive (not: pretty much expensive). Pretty much means “almost”: pretty much everyone.

Common mistakes

Darius left a quite big tip.
Darius left quite a big tip.
quite comes before a / an
The pie was a bit delicious.
The pie was really delicious.
a bit is for problems
The check was pretty much expensive.
The check was pretty expensive.
no “much” after pretty
This diner is very cheaper.
This diner is a bit cheaper.
a bit / much + comparative

More lessons on this grammar: Adjectives and adverbs lessons and exercises

Try the adverbs of degree exercises

Try them yourself: these are the same exercises your students do in edio.

What's in the lesson

18 auto-checked exercises
5 games
1 article
1 grammar scheme
1 set of word cards
2 audio clips
2 pictures
2 transcripts

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

say how strong an adjective is, from weak to very strong: The service was a bit slow. Tipping is extremely common.
use a bit, slightly or much before a comparative: The check was a bit higher than last time, not very higher
put quite before a or an and the other adverbs after it: quite a big tip, a pretty big tip
keep a bit for problems and absolutely for extreme adjectives: The fries were a bit cold, but the pie was absolutely delicious.
explain a custom to a visitor: Tipping is pretty normal at sit-down restaurants. For coffee, tipping is fairly rare.

Lesson 17 opens Customs and manners, unit 5 of English B1.2 · Changemakers. It builds on B1.1 lesson 18, where very and absolutely split gradable adjectives from extreme ones, and on lesson 9's comparative adverbs, which can now take a bit or much. Lesson 18 moves on to the past perfect. Talk about a meal and its check comes in degrees: pretty good, a bit slow, quite a big tip.

Students spin a wheel of questions about eating out, tips and haircuts, then learn twelve words, from split and server to attentive and awkward, with pictures and audio. They read Riley's feature on tipping in America, then hear Riley and Darius split a $46 check at a diner and Graciela, a server and college student, send a voice message; both are AI-voiced. The grammar chapter has the scheme and four self-checking drills, among them a two-way table of a pretty and quite a. In the speaking chapter, students answer a visiting friend's questions, sort small problems from good things and open boxes about eating out, tipping and manners.

All ten homework tasks check themselves: a word match, an anagram, gaps with the lesson's words and a memory game, then adverbs to choose in new sentences, gaps that put a or an in the right place, word order, a quiz on which sentence is right, Riley and Darius's answer to Graciela with words to drag in, and a quick tipping guide for visitors.

Grammar:: degree adverbs · quite, pretty, fairly, rather · a bit / slightly + comparative · quite a + adjective + noun
Topic:: tipping · restaurants · diners · servers · customs and manners · visitors · Stories That Travel

Teaching tips

Draw the scale on the board before the scheme: a bit at one end, extremely at the other. Students place fairly, pretty and quite on the line, then check the scheme's table.
Ask about tipping where students live before the reading: who gets a tip, and for what? Then they read Riley's feature to see how the US compares and which numbers surprise them.
Play the diner dialogue twice: first for the check and the tip, then for every degree adverb. Students note what each one describes: the fries, the pie, the service, the moment people look at them.
Run a review swap after the chat: pairs describe a real café or restaurant with one adverb from each end of the scale, such as a bit noisy, pretty cheap or absolutely delicious.

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The whole course: English B1.2 · Changemakers

32 lessons for adults at B1 in American English, about people and ideas that changed things: start-ups, future cities, food, memory, customs, art, volunteers and adventure. The podcast team of English B1.1 is back for a season called Changemakers. Learners use the second conditional, the passive, reported speech, the past perfect, relative clauses and verb patterns, and the practice exercises check themselves.See the course

Unit 1 Start-up stories
the second conditional, If I were you, the first vs the second conditional, also, too, as well and besides
Unit 2 Cities of tomorrow
the passive in the present simple and the past simple, with modals, and in the present perfect and present continuous
Unit 3 Food for the future
comparative and superlative adverbs, the future passive, verbs with prepositions, phrasal verbs with up, away and out
Unit 4 Memory and learning
reported statements with say and tell, tense changes, time and place words, reported questions, requests and commands
Unit 5 Customs and manners
degree adverbs such as quite and pretty, the past perfect, the past perfect vs the past simple, make vs do
1. Lesson 17 · you're hereTo tip or not to tip?Adverbs of degree before adjectives and adverbs
2. Lesson 18They'd already started without me!The past perfect: had + past participle
3. Lesson 19What should you do at a powwow?Past perfect vs past simple
4. Lesson 20How do you accept a lei?Make vs do: collocations to learn
Unit 6 Art and design
relative clauses with whose, non-defining relative clauses, relative clauses without a pronoun, when and why
Unit 7 Volunteers and changemakers
verb + -ing or to, -ing as a subject and after prepositions, stop, remember, try and forget, prefer and would rather
Unit 8 Adventure and challenge
possessive 's vs of, must and can't for deduction, might, may and could for possibility, the meanings of get

Questions about this lesson

What are adverbs of degree?

Adverbs of degree are words such as a bit, fairly, pretty, quite and extremely: they say how strong an adjective or adverb is. The fries were a bit cold. The check was fairly high. Tipping is extremely common in US restaurants. The B1 lesson To tip or not to tip? on edio.ai teaches them with a diner meal, its check and the tip.

Where do adverbs of degree go in a sentence?

They go right before the adjective or adverb they change: The food was pretty good. Riley does math pretty fast. With a or an and a noun, most of them follow the article, as in a fairly busy diner, but quite goes in front of it: quite a busy diner. Extreme adjectives such as delicious take absolutely or really.

Which adverbs of degree can go before a comparative?

Use a bit, a little, slightly or much before a comparative: Tonight the check was a bit higher than last time. This diner is much cheaper than the one downtown. Very and pretty don't work there, so very cheaper and pretty faster are mistakes. The gap-fill of small and big differences in To tip or not to tip?, a B1 lesson on edio.ai, practices them.

What's the difference between quite and pretty?

They differ in strength and in word order. Pretty is medium to strong and very common in speech: The food was pretty good. In American English, quite often means “very”: The service was quite fast. With a noun, quite comes before a, and pretty comes after it: quite a big tip, a pretty big tip. Both forms are drilled in To tip or not to tip? on edio.ai.

Is it “quite a big tip” or “a quite big tip”?

It's quite a big tip: quite sits in front of the article, and a quite big tip is a common mistake. The other degree adverbs stay after it: a pretty big tip, a very long wait. Watch a and an too: quite an old custom. The table in To tip or not to tip? on edio.ai has learners write both patterns for eight noun phrases.

How does tipping work in America?

At sit-down restaurants, diners usually leave a tip for their server on top of the check. A tip is voluntary, but it's the custom, and tips are an important part of a server's pay. In a 2023 Pew Research Center survey, 92 percent of adults who eat at sit-down restaurants said they always or often tip, but only 25 percent did for coffee. Visitors from many countries have to learn the custom.

What restaurant vocabulary should B1 learners know?

Start with the words for the end of a meal: the check, the paper with the price, a tip for the server, and split, as in Let's split the check. A good server is attentive, a customer who leaves a lot is generous, and a moment when everyone looks at you is awkward. To tip or not to tip? on edio.ai teaches them with pictures and audio.

How do I teach adverbs of degree to B1 students?

Start with a scale and real opinions: draw a line from a bit to extremely and let students rate a meal, a movie or a bus ride. Then show the two traps: a bit with good things, and a quite big tip. To tip or not to tip? on edio.ai goes from a feature on tipping and a diner dialogue to the scheme, a table of quite a and three more drills.

What's a good game for practicing adverbs of degree?

Rate it out loud: one student names something, such as the school lunch or today's weather, and the next one rates it with a degree adverb: It's a bit cold. It's pretty good. Each answer must use a new adverb. In To tip or not to tip? on edio.ai, open boxes add prompts like Describe a restaurant or café you like, with pretty, quite, a bit and really.

What's good homework for adverbs of degree?

Good homework mixes the scale with word order: adverbs to choose in new sentences, gaps that put a or an before or after the adverb, and sentences to unjumble, such as It was / quite an / exciting game / last night. In To tip or not to tip? on edio.ai, all ten homework tasks check themselves, and the last one is a tipping guide for visitors.

How do you practice adverbs of degree one-to-one?

Review a real place together: the student describes a café, a store or a hotel they know, and the teacher asks for one small problem and one good thing: The music was a little loud, but the coffee was really good. The chat in To tip or not to tip? on edio.ai needs no partner: a visiting friend asks about tipping, and each wrong reply hides a degree-adverb mistake.

Are there interactive exercises for adverbs of degree?

Yes. With no account, this page plays three parts of To tip or not to tip?, a B1 lesson on edio.ai: Riley and Darius's dialogue at the diner, the table of a pretty and quite a, and the chat with a visitor. Everything else needs an account.

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About this lesson

What's inside

Restaurant vocabulary

Grammar: adverbs of degree before adjectives and adverbs

From a little to a lot

From a little to a lot

At the diner

A bit for problems, a bit more for comparisons

With comparatives: a bit more, much faster

Quite a big tip, a pretty big tip

Before adverbs, and with extreme adjectives

Common mistakes

Try the adverbs of degree exercises

What's in the lesson

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

Teaching tips

Teach the whole lesson in edio

Start a free trial

Open the lesson

Teach it live or as homework

The whole course: English B1.2 · Changemakers

Unit 1 Start-up stories

Unit 2 Cities of tomorrow

Unit 3 Food for the future

Unit 4 Memory and learning

Unit 5 Customs and manners

Unit 6 Art and design

Unit 7 Volunteers and changemakers

Unit 8 Adventure and challenge

Questions about this lesson

Teach this lesson with your students