Gradable and ungradable adjectives
Ungradable adjectives describe qualities which are extreme and which cannot be 'more' or 'less', eg amazing, dead, exhausted, fantastic, helpless, impossible, incredible, necessary, perfect, pointless, right, splendid,
unacceptable, wonderful, wrong, etc. Other adjectives are gradable.
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| Modifiers with ungradable adjectives: absolutely, completely, quite, totally, utterly, etc |
After working on the building site all day, Tim was absolutely exhausted. |
| Modifiers with gradable adjectives: a bit, a little, fairly, quite, really, too, very, etc |
Pete was a bit tired after working on the building site all day, but it wasn't too bad. |
