在英语语法中，限定词是位于形容词或副词之前的单词或短语（如very），增加或减少它所修饰的单词所表示的质量。

这里有一些英语中最常见的限定词（尽管其中一些词还有其他功能）：非常、相当、相当、多少、更多、大多数、更少、最少、太、所以，刚好、足够、确实、仍然、几乎、相当、真的、相当、甚至、一点、一点、一（全部）很多、很多、很多、有点。

将它们的用法与增强器比较，增强器放大它们修饰的内容，是形容词或副词，程度副词可以修饰动词和其他修饰语。

某些限定符的使用上下文比其他限定符更为有限。在《英语语法：大学课程》第三版中，安吉拉·唐宁公正地使用了：

"Fairly as a modifier indicates an almost large or reasonable degree of a quality (fairly accurate, fairly well-off). It can be used more easily with favourable and neutral adjectives than with strongly unfavourable ones, as with fairly honest, fairly intelligent, fairly reasonable, but not ?fairly dishonest, ?fairly foolish, ?fairly [sic] unreasonable: He seems to have a fairly good idea of what he wants to do." (Routledge, 2014)

写作建议

过分依赖限定词是业余写作的标志。为了提高你的写作水平，仔细阅读你的课文，找出所有的限定词。尽可能把它们带出去。根据需要，修改严重依赖它们的句子或章节，以提供更多细节和细节。在句子或描述中使用更好的动词来表达而不是告诉别人发生了什么。然后你甚至不需要限定词，因为图像或论据将被更彻底地描绘给读者。

Mignon Fogarty建议，“限定词有其位置，但要确保它们不仅仅占用空间”（“语法女孩为学生提供终极写作指南”，2011）。

William Strunk Jr.和E.B.White的著名著作有更严格的建议：

"Avoid the use of qualifiers. Rather, very, little, pretty—these are the leeches that infest the pond of prose, sucking the blood of words. The constant use of the adjective little (except to indicate size) is particularly debilitating; we should all try to do a little better, we should all be very watchful of this rule, for it is a rather important one, and we are pretty sure to violate it now and then." ("The Elements of Style," 3rd ed. Macmillan, 1979)

限定词与副词

限定词看起来像副词，它们甚至会出现在词典中，但它们与基本副词略有不同。Thomas P.Klammer和Muriel R.Schulz解释道：

"Traditional grammarians usually classified qualifiers as adverbs of degree, and at first glance, judging on the basis of meaning and function, this seems reasonable. Degree adverbs—like completely, absolutely, extremely, and excessively—can fit into the same position as the prototype, and they have similar meanings. "However, qualifiers are not true adverbs; they fail to fulfill several of the criteria for adverbs....First, qualifiers do not modify verbs....Second, with one or two exceptions, like really and fairly, qualifiers do not have adverb derivational suffixes. Third, qualifiers cannot be made comparative or superlative....And fourth, qualifiers do not intensify." ("Analyzing English Grammar." Allyn and Bacon, 1992)