Adjectives describe qualities (characteristics) of nouns. Some qualities can vary in intensity or “grade” (gradable) and other qualities cannot vary in intensity or grade (non-gradable).
Gradable Adjectives
- Adjectives that can be made stronger, weaker, or altered by using “grading adverbs” such as a little, dreadfully, extremely, fairly, hugely, immensely, intensely, rather, reasonably, slightly, unusually, very.
He was quite angry when he saw me.
The movie was really funny!
It is extremely hot in Spain in the summer.
- A gradable adjective can have comparative and superlative forms.
He said that Russia was a little cold and China was rather cold. But Canada was the coldest.
Non-Gradable Adjectives
- Adjectives that describe qualities that are completely present or completely absent. These adjectives describe absolute qualities. To make them stronger, we have to use modifiers like absolutely, totally or completely.
The game was absolutely amazing!
The dress is absolutely perfect!
Their house was totally destroyed by the typhoon.
My work is completely finished.
- Adjectives like amazing, awful, and boiling are also considered non-gradable. They already contain the idea of ‘very’ in their meanings. If we want to make extreme adjectives stronger, we add absolutely or really:
The match was absolutely amazing!
After 32 hours of traveling, they were absolutely exhausted.
The traffic was really awful.
- Non-gradable adjectives can also be used alone.
It is freezing outside.
The cat was dead.