Adjectives: gradable and non-gradable

Do you know how to use adjectives in phrases like a bit cold, really cold and absolutely freezing? Test what you know with interactive exercises and read the explanation to help you.

Look at these examples to see how gradable and non-gradable adjectives are used.

It's really cold.
It's absolutely freezing.
This exercise is really difficult.
This exercise is completely impossible.

Try this exercise to test your grammar.

Grammar test 1: Adjectives: gradable and non-gradable: Grammar test 1

Grammar explanation

Gradable adjectives

Most adjectives are gradable. This means we can have different levels of that quality. For example, you can be a bit cold, very cold or extremely cold. We can make them weaker or stronger with modifiers:

She was quite angry when she found out.
The film we saw last night was really funny!
It can be extremely cold in Russia in the winter.

Here is a list of some common gradable adjectives and some modifiers that we can use with them.

Modifiers	a little/a bit →	pretty/quite →	really/very →	extremely
Adjectives	angry, big, boring, cheap, cold, expensive, frightening, funny, hot, interesting, old, pretty, small, tasty, tired, etc.

Non-gradable: absolute adjectives

Some adjectives are non-gradable. For example, something can't be a bit finished or very finished. You can't be a bit dead or very dead. These adjectives describe absolute qualities. To make them stronger we have to use modifiers like absolutely, totally or completely:

Thank you, I love it! It's absolutely perfect!
Their farm was totally destroyed by a tornado.
My work is completely finished. Now I can relax.

Here is a list of some common absolute adjectives and some modifiers that we can use with them.

Modifiers	absolutely/totally/completely
Adjectives	acceptable, dead, destroyed, finished, free, impossible, necessary, perfect, ruined, unacceptable, etc.

Non-gradable: extreme adjectives

Adjectives like amazing, awful and boiling are also non-gradable. They already contain the idea of 'very' in their definitions. If we want to make extreme adjectives stronger, we have to use absolutely or really:

Did you see the final match? It was absolutely amazing!
After 32 hours of travelling, they were absolutely exhausted.
My trip home was really awful. First, traffic was really bad, then the car broke down and we had to walk home in the rain.

Here is a list of some common extreme adjectives and some modifiers that we can use with them.

Modifiers	absolutely/really
Adjectives	amazing, ancient, awful, boiling, delicious, enormous, excellent, exhausted, fascinating, freezing, gorgeous, terrible, terrifying, tiny, etc.

Do this exercise to test your grammar again.

Grammar test 2: Adjectives: gradable and non-gradable: Grammar test 2

Try another grammar lesson

Language level

B1 Intermediate

B2 Upper intermediate

This lesson is a bit confusing, but it is fun and teaches new things. Just go on, and you will find your own time. Keep practicing, mate!

I do not understand whats wrong with

In real life, it was very tiny.

Why it is incorrect even though tiny it is gradable.

Hello Antony P,

Tiny is generally not a gradeable adjective:

It wasn't just small, it was absolutely tiny!

You can see it in the list of non-gradeable adjectives above Grammar Test 2. Of course, that's not to say you can't find examples of non-standard use, but in regular usage I think tiny is not gradeable.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

It was really helpful, thank you so much :)

I know how to use these two well.Thanks a lot

Why do we have two types of Non-gradable adjectives? I got a bit confused! Please explain to me.

Hello SaudCR7,

Languages are not planned but rather evolve organically as people communicate, so there's no answer to why we have two types of non-gradable adjectives other than because it is useful for communication. What I can tell you is how they work: extreme adjectives are already super-strong in their meaning, so we don't conceive of them as being on a spectrum from weak (slightly/a little) to strong (very/really), while absolute adjectives are obviously binary - either true or not true - rather than existing on a spectrum of strength.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team