Collocations for soften - verb

considerably, a lot
a bit, a little, slightly, somewhat
His smile softened slightly.
I've softened somewhat in my advancing age.

towards/toward
Her anger softened towards/toward him.

slightly, somewhat

try to
help (to)

soften the blow (of sth)
I should try to soften the blow of this news.
The bank may try to soften the blow somewhat with a cut in interest rates.

soften into a smile
Her face softened into a smile.

Soften is used with these nouns as the subject:
expression, eye, face, tone, voice

Soften is used with these nouns as the object:
blow, butter, effect, feature, image, impact, margarine, onion, outline, stance, tone