Gradable VS. UNGRADABLE ADJECTIVES Ungradable adjectives: Ungradable adjectives represent the limits of a scale e.g.

ENORMOUS LARGE SMALL - MINUTE They describe qualities which cannot be measured in degrees (there cannot be more or less of a quality described e.g. dead, perfect, freezing, impossible). They dont occur in comparative or superlative forms. GRADABLE ADJECTIVES: Gradable adjectives describe qualities which can be measured in degrees. ENORMOUS LARGE SMALL - MINUTE They have comparative and superlative forms i.e. a person or a thing can have more or less of a particular quality. Modifiers: Modifiers describe a word or make its meaning more specific. (They are said to modify the word.) In English, there are two parts of speech which are modifiers: adjectives and adverbs. Adjectives modify nouns and pronouns e.g. beautiful morning, silly me! Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives and other adverbs e.g. run quickly, rather smart, really fast. MODIFYING GRADABLE ADJECTIVES Modifiers used to make gradable adjectives stronger: VERY, RATHER, REALLY, EXTREMELY, TERRIBLY, PRETTY (informal), SO E.g. pretty upset, terribly exciting, rather expensive. Modifiers used to make gradable adjectives weaker: FAIRLY, SLIGHTLY, A BIT, A LITTLE, A LITTLE BIT, SOMEWHAT. E.g. slightly dizzy, a bit boring. Modifying gradable adjectives is often a matter of collocation. E.g. highly skilled, utterly miserable, bitterly disappointed Such combinations follow no rules and should be memorized. It is important to know these combinations if you want your English to sound natural. MODIFYING UNGRADABLE ADJECTIVES We do not use the same modifiers as with gradable adjectives. E.g. very freezing (freezing=very cold; very freezing=very very cold) Instead, we can use the following modifiers to make the meaning of gradable adjectives stronger: ABSOLUTELY, REALLY, TOTALLY, COMPLETELY Note: REALLY can be used with both gradable and ungradable adjectives.

Making ungradable adjectives weaker: ALMOST, NEARLY, VIRTUALLY, PRACTICALLY. That way, we indicate a point close to the absolute meaning of a gradable adjective e.g. The park was virtually empty. Some adjectives can be both gradable and ungradable, depending on the speakers point of view, e.g. I am afraid there are no more rooms the hotel is full. The hotel is very full but I think I can get you a single room for tonight. INFORMAL MODIFIERS: REAL, DEAD E.g. real nice, dead scary