simply

[mebius]

Hello.

Is it common to use "simply" to emphasize a statement?

You simply must see the play.
The view is simply wonderful!
That is simply not true!
I haven’t seen her for simply ages.

[MrPedantic]

Hello Mebius

In British English, the use of "simply" in a positive context (your examples 1, 2 and 4) can have a slightly old-fashioned or affected air.

In a negative context, however, it still seems ok: "that simply isn't true", etc.

You sometimes find it in slogans and instructions: "simply the best", "open a new document and simply cut and paste the data from your spreadsheet", etc.

MrP

[mebius]

MrP,

Thank you for the response. That was helpful.