3.2 Gradable or non-gradable?
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Read the following sentences taken from the first chapter of the novel The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde and focus your attention on those adjectives in bold. Are they gradable or non-gradable?
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Adjectives describe qualities (characteristics) of nouns. Some qualities can vary in intensity or "grade", for example:
rather cold, cold, very cold
The adjective cold is gradable.
Other qualities cannot vary in intensity or grade because they are:
extremes (for example: boiling)
absolutes (for example: dead)
classifying (for example: nuclear)
The adjectives boiling, dead and nuclear are non-gradable.
Other non-gradable adjectives include:
unique terrified/terrifying freezing appalled amazed/amazing excellent impossible awful terrible |
Non-gradable adjectives cannot be used with the grading adverbs such as very, really, a little, extremely, fairly: fairly boiling
To modify them, use non-grading adverbs such as:
totally absolutely quite truly utterly |
absolutely impossible; quite impossible ; truly amazing ;
Note: totally is often used with negative adjectives: That's totally ridiculous.
Reflection
Now answer the following questions:
1. In the first sentence above, the adjective frightened has been used. Can we say absolutely frightened? Or very terrified?
2. Which adverbs could be used with the adjective frightened ? What about terrified ?
3. In the second sentence, the superlative adjective best has been used. Is the use of comparative and superlative forms a characteristic of gradable or non-gradable adjectives?
4. Is it correct if, in the third sentence above, the phrase very handsome is replaced with absolutely handsome?
5. Can you name more non-gradable adjectives with the same meaning as superb ?
6. In the third and fourth sentences above, the adverbs really, rather and extremely have been used. Do we use them with gradable or with non-gradable adjectives?
Do it yourself
Moving on
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