Adjectives: gradable and non-gradable
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
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
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
This lesson is absolutely amazing. Now i know the difference between gradable and non gradable adjectives. Thank you !
I finally understand gradable and non~gradable adjectives. Thanks to the British Council
Now I know my gut was right all the time! :) Thanks for this exercise!
Cheers
I have learned difference between gradable and non gradable adjectives. Thank you
this lesson is really amazing
What about "pretty/enough tasty" or "free enough"?
Hello chiaroscuro,
I'm not sure what your question is here. What about these examples?
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
This exercise is absolutely fascinanting