Strong adjectives
Sometimes when you want to describe something/somewhere/someone you use an ADJECTIVE preceded by very to intensify its meaning. But what about using a strong adjective instead?
Extreme adjectives or non-gradable adjectives are words that mean “extremely + adjective” – for example, “freezing” means “extremely cold.” The weather can’t be “a little bit freezing” or “very freezing” – because the word “freezing” itself automatically means “extremely cold.”
Have a look at the following chart:
SPECIAL RULES FOR EXTREME ADJECTIVES
1) NO COMPARATIVES/SUPERLATIVES.
With regular adjectives, we can use comparatives and superlatives to compare two or more things:
- My house is big.
- My neighbor’s house is bigger than mine.
(comparative) - My parents’ house is the biggest house on the street.
(superlative)
With extreme adjectives, we don’t use comparatives and superlatives:
- My parents’ house is enormous.
- My parents’ house is more enormous / the most enormous.
2) USE DIFFERENT ADVERBS WITH EXTREME ADJECTIVES.
With regular adjectives, we can use these adverbs:
- a little, a bit, slightly, fairly, rather
- very, extremely, immensely, intensely, hugely
Examples:
- I’m rather hungry. / I’m very hungry.
- This room is a bit dirty. / This room is extremely dirty.
- We’re a little tired. / We’re immensely tired.
With extreme adjectives, we CANNOT use these adverbs:
- I’m rather starving. / I’m extremely starving.
However, there are other adverbs we can use to give additional emphasis to the extreme adjective:
- absolutely
- completely
- utterly
Examples:
- I’m absolutely furious.
- We’re completely exhausted.
- The movie was utterly terrifying.
The words pretty and really can be used with both regular and extreme adjectives:
- This room is pretty dirty. (regular)
- This room is pretty filthy. (extreme)
- The party is really crowded. (regular)
- The party is really packed. (extreme)
Have a look at the following video:
