WhatareExtreme

Adjectives?

Coldisaregularadjective,andFreezingisan
extremeadjective.

Adjectives are words that describe the qualities of something. Some adjectives in English
aregradable that means you can have different degrees or levels of that quality. For example,
theweathercanbealittlecold,rathercold,verycold,orextremelycold.

Extreme adjectivesornongradable adjectivesare words that mean extremely +

adjectiveforexample,freezingmeansextremelycold.Theweathercantbea
littlebitfreezingorveryfreezingbecausethewordfreezingitselfautomatically
meansextremelycold.

Regular&ExtremeAdjectivesList

RegularAdjective ExtremeAdjective
angry furious
bad awful,terrible,horrible
big huge,gigantic,giant
clean spotless
cold freezing
crowded packed
dirty filthy
funny hilarious
good wonderful,fantastic,excellent
hot boiling
hungry starving
interesting fascinating
old ancient
pretty gorgeous
scary terrifying
small tiny
surprising astounding
tired exhausted
ugly hideous

SpecialRulesforExtremeAdjectives

Source:http://www.espressoenglish.net/

1)Nocomparatives/superlatives.

Withregularadjectives,wecanusecomparativesandsuperlativestocomparetwoor
morethings:

Myhouseisbig.
Myneighborshouseisbiggerthanmine.
(comparative)
Myparentshouseisthebiggesthouseonthestreet.
(superlative)

Withextremeadjectives,wedontusecomparativesandsuperlatives:

Myparentshouseisenormous.
Myparentshouseismoreenormous/themostenormous.

2)Usedifferentadverbswithextremeadjectives.

Withregularadjectives,wecanusetheseadverbs:

alittle,abit,slightly,fairly,rather
very,extremely,immensely,intensely,hugely

Examples:

Imratherhungry./Imveryhungry.
Thisroomisabitdirty./Thisroomisextremelydirty.
Werealittletired./Wereimmenselytired.

Withextremeadjectives,weCANNOTusetheseadverbs:

Imratherstarving./Imextremelystarving.

However,thereareotheradverbswecanusetogiveadditionalemphasistothe
extremeadjective:

absolutely
completely
utterly

Examples:

Imabsolutelyfurious.
Werecompletelyexhausted.
Themoviewasutterlyterrifying.

Thewordsprettyandreallycanbeusedwithbothregularandextremeadjectives:

Thisroomisprettydirty.(regular)
Thisroomisprettyfilthy.(extreme)

Source:http://www.espressoenglish.net/

 Thepartyisreallycrowded.(regular)
Thepartyisreallypacked.(extreme)

AbsoluteAdjectives

Anothertypeofextremeadjectiveiscalledanabsoluteadjective.

Thesearewordsthatareeitheryesorno.Forexample,deadyoucantbealittle
bitdeadorverydeadeitherYES,youaredead,orNO,yourenotdead.

Heresalistofabsoluteadjectivesandtheiropposites(thislistisnotcomplete;itonly
showssomeexamples):

AbsoluteAdjective Opposite
complete incomplete
equal unequal
essential nonessential;extraneous
dead alive
fatal notfatal
first last/final
full empty
ideal notideal
impossible possible
infinite finite
married single / divorced /
separated/widowed
perfect imperfect
pregnant notpregnant
unique notunique
universal notuniversal
unknown known
true false

Note:

YoumighthearexpressionsliketheseinspokenEnglish:

Thatsverytrue.
Itstheveryfirsttime
Thisshirtismoreuniquethanthatone.

Thesesentencesarenottechnicallycorrect,becauseweshouldntusethewordsveryor
morewithabsoluteadjectivesbutnativespeakersdontalwaysfollowtherules!

http://www.espressoenglish.net/extremeadjectivesinenglish/

Source:http://www.espressoenglish.net/

Nowtestyourknowledgeofextremeadjectives:

1. Thecomedianwas__________!IlaughedsohardIwasalmostcrying.
astounding
fascinating
hilarious

2. Thekitchenwas__________bythetimeshefinishedcleaningit.
furious
hideous
spotless

3. These__________ruinswerebuiltbytheMayansthousandsofyearsago.
ancient
filthy
packed

4. Inmyevaluation,theteachersaidIwasa___________studentandajoytohavein
class
Horrible
gorgeous
wonderful

5. Mybrotherwas___________whenIbrokehisbrandnewcellphone.
awful
furious
starving

6. ThefirsttimeIhadtospeakatabigconference,Iwas__________myhandswere
actuallyshaking!
exhausted
terrified
terrible

7. Thishearingaidisso_________youcanbarelyseeit.
astounding
filthy
tiny

8. Thatdressis__________Ican'tbelieveit'sconsidered"fashionable"!
hideous
freezing
spotless

9. Mykidsfellasleeponthecarridehomefromthezootheywere__________from
runningaroundallday.
exhausted
furious
terrifying

10. I'mnotreallyintopolitics,butIfindscience___________.

Source:http://www.espressoenglish.net/

gigantic
fascinating
starving

AdverbswithExtremeAdjectives:decideifthefollowingsentencesareCORRECTOR
INCORRECT

1. Thatpaintingisverygorgeoustheartisthasrealtalent.
2. Thesebooksarefairlyancienttheywerewrittentwohundredyearsago.
3. The classroom was almost empty during the week before Christmas; everyone had
goneonvacation.
4. He became a multimillionaire by the time he was 25 years old. His success is
absolutelyastounding.
5. It'sabithotinhere;couldyouopenthewindow?
6. Thisprojectisrathergiganticit'sfartoomuchworkforjustoneperson.
7. Helosthisjobandhiscarwasstoleninthesameweek?Wow,that'sreallyawful.
8. It's extremely essential that you bring all the necessary documents to your visa
interview.
9. Youressaywasnearlyperfecttherewasonlyonesmallpunctuationerror.
10. Mynewapartmentisslightlytiny;thereisn'tenoughroomforallmyfurniture.

Source:http://www.espressoenglish.net/