Time for a pop quiz!
Decide which of these five sentences below are correct.
If a sentence is incorrect, think why it could be incorrect.
Are you ready? Start.
Pop Quiz
1. The talk on the importance of grammar was a bit boring.
2. Your sense of style is very perfect.
3. The eco-friendly clothes at the fashion show were absolutely fabulous.
4. The report on the effects of doomscrolling is very important.
5. His plan to complete the survey within three days is incredibly impossible.
Scroll down for answers.
Answers:
- correct. Boring is a gradable adjective.
- incorrect. Perfect is a non-gradable adjective.
- correct. Fabulous is a non-gradable adjective.
- correct. Important is a gradable adjective.
- incorrect. Impossible is a non-gradable adjective.
Now, what on earth are gradable and non-gradable adjectives?
Let’s start with the gradable ones.
Gradable adjectives
Gradable adjectives can be expressed in different degrees. They are graded. Take the adjective– boring.
You say:
Learning grammar is a bit boring.
Learning grammar is really/very boring.
Learning grammar is extremely boring. / Learning grammar is incredibly boring.
Do you notice how there is an increase in degree as we go down the list? By the way, I hope you don’t find grammar to be incredibly boring.
Other common gradable adjectives are: good, bad, and interesting.
Do you use the adjective interesting a lot?
You could say:
The documentary on bees was pretty interesting.
The Nigerian novel I read was very interesting.
The business idea the students have is extremely interesting.
To end this section, just remember that you use these intensifiers with non-gradable adjectives:
a little / a bit
pretty/quite
really/very
extremely / incredibly
Time to look at those non-gradable adjectives.
Non-gradable adjectives
Non-gradable adjectives are adjectives that are at the highest level. Unlike gradable adjectives, they have no degrees. They are absolute.
I’m sure you must be thinking of examples of non-gradable adjectives.
Here are a few of them: fantastic, fabulous, brilliant, excellent, and perfect.
There are times when we want to emphasize even non-gradable adjectives. We do this especially when speaking. To emphasize a gradable adjective, we use these intensifiers: absolutely, completely, and totally.
That’s why, sentence no. 3 from the pop quiz is correct:
3. The eco-friendly clothes at the fashion show were absolutely fabulous.
By the way, Absolutely Fabulous is the name of funny British sitcom from the 1990s. That’s the poster at the top.
Back to non-gradable adjectives. You could say: That’s completely impossible. (Sentence no. 5 from the pop quiz.)
Here is another sentence from the quiz:
2. Your sense of style is very perfect.
If you remember, it’s incorrect. But, why? Because, we use very only with gradable adjectives. For example: It is very cold outside.
Sentence 2 could be rewritten as: Your sense of style is absolutely perfect.
Doesn’t that sound better?
Remember: we do not use very with non-gradable adjectives.
Now for some good news. There is an an intensifier that is used with both gradable and non-gradable adjectives. The intensifier is: really. So, you say:
She is a really brilliant engineer. (non-gradable adjective: brilliant)
The art show was really interesting. (gradable adjective: interesting)
The takeaway
There are two kinds of adjectives: gradable and non-gradable.
With gradable adjectives, we use intensifiers such as a bit, pretty, very, extremely, and incredibly.
With non-gradable adjectives, we use intensifiers such as: absolutely, completely, and totally.
The intensifier really goes with both kinds of adjectives.
Now that you know the difference between gradable and non-gradable adjectives, start to notice them around you.
Notice the adjectives you use. Do you use non-gradable adjectives a lot? If not, are there any ones that you would like to start using?
Similarly, notice the adjectives your friends, colleagues, and clients use.
Notice the adjectives that are used in ads. Advertisers love using non-gradable adjectives.
Keep improving your grammar and always remain–absolutely fabulous!
Would you like to brush up on the use of prepositions? Click here.
Image from Wikipedia
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