[B- A] Gradable and Non Gradable Adjectives

LET'S READ! 📖

Direction: Read the passage below then answer the questions being asked.

Gradable and Non-gradable Adjectives

Today's adventure at the amusement park was remarkable. The absolutely beautiful weather set the perfect backdrop for a memorable outing. The thrilling rides brought immense joy, filling me with exhilaration and leaving me craving more excitement. The taste of the food was simply amazing, especially the cotton candy that had me wanting just a little bit more. Despite the slight frustration of waiting in line for the popular ride, our spirits remained high. By the end of the day, fatigue set in, but the memories created throughout the day made it all worthwhile. It was a day filled with laughter, thrills, and cherished memories that will be treasured for years to come.

QUESTIONS:

1. What were some of the things the day at the amusement park was filled with?

2. What was the overall feeling at the end of the day despite the fatigue?

LET'S UNDERSTAND! 📚

Gradable Adjectives

are adjectives that can be modified- made weaker, stronger or altered by placing adverb(s) in front of them. These adjectives can be measured in degrees such as size, age, beauty,etc.

Common gradable adjectives:

very	extremely	a little bit	dreadfully	faily	higely
immensely	intensely	rather	reasonably	slightly	unusually

Example:

She is dreadfully thin.
It's a little cold in here.

We can make gradable adjectives stronger with very, but not with the adverb absolutely.

Example:

❌~~That new umbrella looks absolutely expensive.~~

✅That new umbrella looks very expensive

We can usually make gradable adjectives weaker by the words fairly, slightly, a little, bit (informal) and somewhat (formal)

Example:

I've been feeling slightly dizzy all morning
My friend was a bit drunk (informal)

Quite

with gradable adjectives, quite usually means somewhat but can have other meanings. The different definitions are only apparent in spoken English as they are dependent on stress and intonation.

Example:

The lecture was quite interesting (unmarked-fairly interesting)

quite interesting (emphasis on adjective= more interesting than the speaker expected)
quite interesting (focus on adverb = less interesting than the speaker expected)

Non-Gradable Adjectives

are adjectives that cannot be modified by adverbs. They describe qualities that are completely present or completely absent.

▪️ For example, the limits of the scale of "how much something costs" are FREE (it costs nothing) and PRICELESS ( its costs is too great to be counted)

▪️ They cannot be also used with comparative or superlative forms.

Common non-gradable adjectives:

impossible	dead	nuclear	electronic
southern	freezing	boiling	unique

Example:

❌~~The entrance to the museum is very free.~~

✅The entrance to the museum is absolutely free.

Intensifying Adjectives

Using the adverb "absolutely" is the most common way to intensify non-gradable adjectives. We use this to add emphasis in spoken and informal English; it is not common in writing.

Example:

I couldn't swim on the sea; the water is absolutely freezing.
The show was absolutely fabulous

When we use quite with ungradable adjectives, it has a similar meaning to completely, emphasizing the strength of the adjective.

Example:

The choir's performance was quite amazing.
You are quite correct.

We do not usually make ungradable adjectives weaker by using the modifiers fairly, somewhat, not very but we do use almost, nearly, practically or virtually to indicate a point close to the absolute meaning of ungradable adjectives.

Example:

The battery in my calculator is almost dead.

LET'S PRACTICE! 📝

Direction: Use both gradable and non gradable adjectives to describe the following. Then, explain your answer.

📌 an experience of a natural disaster

📌 a villain in a story

📌 a festival you have attended

📌 the last party you've gone to