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Cup cake Posted 10 years ago
Grammar

Adverb with adjective

Hi Folks,

I'm creating some sentences and was wondering why we wouldn't say the following:

'It was a very terrible movie.'

I know we could say, 'It was a very bad movie', or 'It was a very interesting movie', but why not - very terrible?

Is there a particular rule, or is just - learn by rote?

Thanks in advance,
Cup Cake Emotion: smile
  

Top answer

I wouldn't say that very terrible is wrong, but we usually don't say it because terrible is such a strong word by itself. Clive

— Clive

  • I wouldn't say that very terrible is wrong, but we usually don't say it because terrible is such a strong word by itself.
  • Clive
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15 Answers
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I wouldn't say that very terrible is wrong, but we usually don't say it because terrible is such a strong word by itself.

Clive
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Adjectives can be used with intensifiers and can be used in the comparative/superlaive.

Most people think that 'brick' in brick wall' is an adjective but it isn't, since there is no such thing as a 'bricker wall', a very brick wall, etc. The same with 'bus station': busser station, very bus station ... (no such things)

If 'terrible' is an adjective these should be okay:

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PalinkasocsiIf 'terrible' is an adjective these should be okay:very/quite terrible, more terrible, the most terribe ...
I disagree. If something is terrible, it is extreme or very great in itself. You needlessly add "very" to that. I'd put it into the category of adjectives which are ungradable, i.e. they have an absolute meaning. You can't say "more unique",
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Cup cakeI'm creating some sentences and was wondering why we wouldn't say the following: 'It was a very terrible movie.'
We wouldn't say that, I think, because we usually strengthen only adjectives which need it because they are weak. 'very' strengthens, so adding 'very' to an adjective that is already strong (terrible, horrible, atrocious, hideous, fantas
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Informally, the word "really" is frequently used to (supposedly) further intensify already strong adjectives. "It was a really terrible movie" would be a common thing to say.
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Thanks Everyone. Emotion: gift

The reason I asked was because I'm working on gradable and non-gradable adjectives. As usual, I would l
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Cup cakeIn my mind, relying on 'formulas' all the time doesn't cut it.
I'm not so sure. In a way, all of language boils down to formulas. The trick is when to use which formula.
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CalifJim Cup cakeIn my mind, relying on 'formulas' all the time doesn't cut it.I'm not so sure. In a way, all of language boils down to formulas. The trick is when to use which formula. CJ
I couldn't agree more.

Formulas, idioms and exceptions is the engine of any language. Words without right connections, i.e. grammatical and collocational ones, don'
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Now that I have re-read what I said, I can see that perhaps I've been slightly misunderstood.

Yes, you must have rules to get the grammar right.
I just wish that there was some 'logic' behind some of the those rules.
Unfortunately there isn't for a number of topics.

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Cup cakeI just wish that there was some 'logic' behind some of the those rules.
If it's any consolation to you, there often was logic behind many of the rules centuries ago, but as language changes, the rules gradually change, too, because you can't stop people from talking just the way they want to, so it's hard to find out what the logic was hi
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