Gradable & Non-Gradable Adjectives

​Gradable & non-gradable

adjectives

​Gradable & non-gradable

adjectives

​ Some adjectives have different levels of quality, we can make them weaker or stronger with modifiers. But others have absolute or extreme qualities, which means that we can't make them weaker or stronger.

​My cat was very sick. He died last month.

​Max wasn't quite well. He had the flu.

I am really excited to see Jorgito's ghost.

Thomas is absolutely dead.

Thomas is a bit dead.

​Gradable

​Adjectives

Are the ones that can have different levels of quality. We can make them weaker or stronger with modifiers. Most adjectives are gradable.

​Gradable

​Adjectives

Are the ones that can have different levels of quality. We can make them weaker or stronger with modifiers. Most adjectives are gradable.

​Modifiers

​Downtoners

​are words that DECREASE the degree of the adjective.

​Gradable

​Adjectives

Are the ones that can have different levels of quality. We can make them weaker or stronger with modifiers. Most adjectives are gradable.

​Modifiers

​Downtoners

​are words that DECREASE the degree of the adjective.

​slightly

somewhat

a little

barely

hardly

just

nearly

almost

​kind of

sort of

rather

pretty

marginally

minimally

insignificantly

​Gradable

​Adjectives

Are the ones that can have different levels of quality. We can make them weaker or stronger with modifiers. Most adjectives are gradable.

​Modifiers

​Downtoners

Intensifiers

​are words that DECREASE the degree of the adjective.

are the ones that INCREASE the degree of the adjective.

​slightly

somewhat

a little

barely

hardly

just

nearly

almost

​kind of

sort of

rather

pretty

marginally

minimally

insignificantly

​Gradable

​Adjectives

Are the ones that can have different levels of quality. We can make them weaker or stronger with modifiers. Most adjectives are gradable.

​Modifiers

​Downtoners

Intensifiers

​are words that DECREASE the degree of the adjective.

are the ones that INCREASE the degree of the adjective.

​slightly

somewhat

a little

barely

hardly

just

nearly

almost

​kind of

sort of

rather

pretty

marginally

minimally

insignificantly

​very

extremely

highly

exceedingly

quite

really

exceptionally

truly

immensely

enormously

notably

​Gradable

​Adjectives

Are the ones that can have different levels of quality. We can make them weaker or stronger with modifiers. Most adjectives are gradable.

​Modifiers

​Downtoners

Intensifiers

​are words that DECREASE the degree of the adjective.

are the ones that INCREASE the degree of the adjective.

Gradable Adjectives

​slightly

somewhat

a little

barely

hardly

just

nearly

almost

​kind of

sort of

rather

pretty

marginally

minimally

insignificantly

highly

exceedingly

notably

very

really

quite

extremely

exceptionally

truly

immensely

enormously

hot

cold

big

small

tall

short

fast

slow

happy

sad

Here's a list of a few of them:

beautiful

ugly

expensive

cheap

heavy

light

noisy

quiet

clean

dirty

hard

soft

long

short

easy

difficult

good

bad

interesting

boring

delicious

tasteless

bright

dull

rich

poor

old

young

strong

weak

Drag and Drop

Oh my! This cake is ​

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delicious! I love it!

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extremely

kind of

a bit

Drag and Drop

C'mon! It's ​

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dirty, you don't need to wash it.

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barely

very

extremely

Drag and Drop

She was ​

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better than the other candidates in the interview, she almost didn't make it!

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marginally

absolutely

exceedingly

Multiple Choice

He is ___ skilled in programming and can tackle complex projects with ease.

• highly

• slightly

• minimally

Multiple Choice

I'm ___ tired after the long hike, but can I still explore the area.

• sort of

• highly

• abssolutely

non-​Gradable

​Adjectives

express an absolute or extreme quality, which means they are without degrees in between. They don't usually take intensifiers or comparatives because they describe a state or condition that cannot be modified or compared to another.

non-​Gradable

​Adjectives

express an absolute or extreme quality, which means they are without degrees in between. They don't usually take intensifiers or comparatives because they describe a state or condition that cannot be modified or compared to another.

​Absolute Adjectives

express absolute or complete qualities. They don't have varying degrees or levels of intensity.

non-​Gradable

​Adjectives

express an absolute or extreme quality, which means they are without degrees in between. They don't usually take intensifiers or comparatives because they describe a state or condition that cannot be modified or compared to another.

​Absolute Adjectives

express absolute or complete qualities. They don't have varying degrees or levels of intensity.

​Complete

Dead

Empty

Eternal

False

Fatal

Final

Immortal

Whole

Impossible

Inevitable

Perfect

Pregnant

Single

Square

Unique

Universal

non-​Gradable

​Adjectives

express an absolute or extreme quality, which means they are without degrees in between. They don't usually take intensifiers or comparatives because they describe a state or condition that cannot be modified or compared to another.

​Absolute Adjectives

express absolute or complete qualities. They don't have varying degrees or levels of intensity.

​Complete

Dead

Empty

Eternal

False

Fatal

Final

Immortal

Whole

Impossible

Inevitable

Perfect

Pregnant

Single

Square

Unique

Universal

Absolutely

Completely

Entirely

Fully

Totally

Utterly

​Modifiers

non-​Gradable

​Adjectives

express an absolute or extreme quality, which means they are without degrees in between. They don't usually take intensifiers or comparatives because they describe a state or condition that cannot be modified or compared to another.

​Absolute Adjectives

​Extreme Adjectives

​describe qualities that are at the extreme end of a spectrum. They often have a subjective or emotional meaning.

express absolute or complete qualities. They don't have varying degrees or levels of intensity.

​Complete

Dead

Empty

Eternal

False

Fatal

Final

Immortal

Whole

Impossible

Inevitable

Perfect

Pregnant

Single

Square

Unique

Universal

Absolutely

Completely

Entirely

Fully

Totally

Utterly

​Modifiers

non-​Gradable

​Adjectives

express an absolute or extreme quality, which means they are without degrees in between. They don't usually take intensifiers or comparatives because they describe a state or condition that cannot be modified or compared to another.

​Absolute Adjectives

​Extreme Adjectives

​describe qualities that are at the extreme end of a spectrum. They often have a subjective or emotional meaning.

express absolute or complete qualities. They don't have varying degrees or levels of intensity.

​Complete

Dead

Empty

Eternal

False

Fatal

Final

Immortal

Whole

Impossible

Inevitable

Perfect

Pregnant

Single

Square

Unique

Universal

​Amazing

Appalling

Awful

Beautiful

Brutal

Devastating

Disgusting

Dreadful

Exquisite

Fantastic

Furious

Gorgeous

Hideous

Horrible

Incredible

Intense

Monstrous

Outstanding

Terrible

Terrific.

Absolutely

Completely

Entirely

Fully

Totally

Utterly

​Modifiers

non-​Gradable

​Adjectives

express an absolute or extreme quality, which means they are without degrees in between. They don't usually take intensifiers or comparatives because they describe a state or condition that cannot be modified or compared to another.

​Absolute Adjectives

​Extreme Adjectives

​describe qualities that are at the extreme end of a spectrum. They often have a subjective or emotional meaning.

express absolute or complete qualities. They don't have varying degrees or levels of intensity.

​Complete

Dead

Empty

Eternal

False

Fatal

Final

Immortal

Whole

Impossible

Inevitable

Perfect

Pregnant

Single

Square

Unique

Universal

​Amazing

Appalling

Awful

Beautiful

Brutal

Devastating

Disgusting

Dreadful

Exquisite

Fantastic

Furious

Gorgeous

Hideous

Horrible

Incredible

Intense

Monstrous

Outstanding

Terrible

Terrific.

Absolutely

Completely

Entirely

Fully

Totally

Utterly

​Modifiers

​Modifiers

Absolutely

Completely

Totally

Umbelievably

Utterly

Match

Match the following gradable adjectives with their non-gradable pairs.

• enormous

• tiny

• boiling

• freezing

• terrible

big

small

hot

cold

bad

• big

• small

• hot

• cold

• bad

Match

Match the following gradable adjectives with their non-gradable pairs.

• exhausting

• fascinating

• fantastic

• amazed

• delighted

tiring

interesting

good

surprised

pleased

• tiring

• interesting

• good

• surprised

• pleased

Match

Match the following gradable adjectives with their non-gradable pairs.

• bad

• big

• cold

• good

• tired

terrible

huge

freezing

excellent

exhausted

• terrible

• huge

• freezing

• excellent

• exhausted

Multiple Choice

That dog is ___ enormous.

• very

• absolutely

Multiple Choice

This food is ___ nice.

• very

• absolutely

Drag and Drop

My friend was absolutely ​

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when she heard she'd passed her exam.

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delighted

pleased

Drag and Drop

Her parents were quite ​

Placeholder

too.

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surprised

amazed

Drag and Drop

I was totally ​

Placeholder

after running 10 kilometers.

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exhausted

tired

Drag and Drop

I really enjoyed the film. It was absolutely

Placeholder

.

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excellent

good

Multiple Choice

The heating system broke down, so we felt very .... all day.

• cold

• freezing

Multiple Choice

English lessons are ___ fascinating!

• absolutely

• very

• fairly

Multiple Choice

The students felt ___ exhausted after the quiz.

• fairly

• very

• pretty

​Word Order

​Usually, modifiers come before the words they modify.

​Word Order

The rest of the sentence uses the usual structure, not being too different.

Reorder

Reorder the following

• It

• is

• really

• cold

• outside.

1

2

3

4

5

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5

Reorder

Reorder the following

• This

• exercise

• is

• really

• difficult.

1

2

3

4

5

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5

Reorder

Reorder the following

• The

• is

• absolutely

• freezing.

• water

1

2

3

4

5

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5

Reorder

Reorder the following

• She

• was

• quite

• angry

• with him.

1

2

3

4

5

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5

Reorder

Reorder the following

• My

• work

• is

• completely

• finished.

1

2

3

4

5

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5

Draw