Gradable Non-gradable Adjectives If an adjective is GRADABLE, it can be used with adverbs such as very or extremely to say that a thing/person

n has more or less of a particular quality. Examples:

A bit, dreadfully, extremely Hugely, immensely, intensely Rather, reasonably, slightly, very

angry, big, busy, clever, deep, fast, friendly, happy important, quiet, rich

NON-GRADABLE adjectives are not used with adverbs such as very or extremely because we dont usually imagine degrees of the quality referred too. With these adjective we can use adverbs which emphasize their extreme or absolute nature, such as absolutely, completely Examples:

Absolutely, completely, entirely Perfectly, practically, simply Totally, utterly, virtually, almost Exclusively, fully, largely Mainly, nearly, primarily

awful, excellent, huge impossible, superb, terrible unique, unknown, whole environmental

Gradable adjectives are sometimes used with non-grading adverbs such as absolutely and totally, and non-gradable adjectives are used with grading adverbs such as extremely, rather, and very, particularly when we want to give special emphasis or when we are being humorous. Note that not all the adverbs can go with all the adjectives. For example, we can say absolutely huge but we wouldnt usually say completely huge. Exercises Put very in front of the adjective where possible or leave blank (-). 1. I put my foot in the water, and it was freezing. 2. Please dont make that silly noise! Its annoying 3. When we first saw the wave we were shocked, because it was enormous. 4. You really should read this book. Its interesting. 5. Jess has been missing for two days, and were worried. 6. Unfortunately, the ring I found turned out to be worthless. 7. At the end of the race, most of the runners felt exhausted. 8. By the end of the second week, many of the villagers were starving. 9. Its unusual for so much rain to fall here in July. 10. Ive checked the figures again, and I can assure you that they are correct. 11. How do you do? Im pleased to meet you. 12. When I realised what she had said, I was upset.

Write very in the spaces before gradable adjectives (5). Before the non-gradable adjectives write the adverbs from the box. Try to use a different one each time. Absolutely Largely almost mainly completely practically exclusively

1. The bridge is now complete. 2. He acted in a/an . professional way. 3. the material is cotton 4. The food was . excellent 5. Her explanation is clear. 6. Their actions were . illegal 7. The new restaurant is popular 8. I was in a/an permanent state of suspense. 9. I thought she was attractive. 10. Until last year the club was male. 11. Small black cars are not .. visible. 12. The railway is underground. Make corrections to the italicised parts of this text where necessary. Dear Alan, Im writing this letter from my new flat in Stratford. Its in an absolutely old building which was totally renovated last year. I didnt have to do much decorating when I moved in. As you know, Im hugely useless at DIY so I was absolutely happy about that. The building is reasonably unique in this part of Stratford, as most others around are rather modern, and the view across the river from my sitting room is simply superb. The flats simply small, but completely comfortable for me. My neighbours are very friendly and usually fully quiet. The only problem is that the woman upstairs plays the trumpet and I find it a bit impossible to read when shes playing. I get slightly angry about this, but she doesnt play for long each time, so its not an extremely terrible problem. I know that the weather has been dreadfully awful recently, so its been difficult for you to get here, but you must come over one evening. Theres an absolutely marvellous restaurant nearby that we could go to. Hope all is well, Eva