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Anonymous Posted 21 years ago
Grammar
ungradable and gradable adjectives
hi everyone,I have a serious problem
I can't distinguish between ungradable and gradable adjectives,for example:'complicated' is gradable but 'amazed' is ungradable. how can i know which adjective is ungradable or gradable?most of the books have the same definition: gradable adjectives an be used to say that a thing or a person has more or less of a particular quality,while ungradable adjectives themselves imply 'to a large degree',but it isn't clear to me.i'm still confused.
thanks in advanced
I can't distinguish between ungradable and gradable adjectives,for example:'complicated' is gradable but 'amazed' is ungradable. how can i know which adjective is ungradable or gradable?most of the books have the same definition: gradable adjectives an be used to say that a thing or a person has more or less of a particular quality,while ungradable adjectives themselves imply 'to a large degree',but it isn't clear to me.i'm still confused.
thanks in advanced
Top answer
Anonymous hi everyone,I have a serious problem I can't distinguish between ungradable and gradable adjectives,for example:'complicated' is gradable but 'amazed' is ungradable. i'm still confused. thanks in advanced Once can measure how complicated something is (by how many people understand it); one cannot measure how amazed a person might be.
- Anonymous hi everyone,I have a serious problem I can't distinguish between ungradable and gradable adjectives,for example:'complicated' is gradable but 'amazed' is ungradable.
- i'm still confused.
- thanks in advanced Once can measure how complicated something is (by how many people understand it); one cannot measure how amazed a person might be.
- I'm speaking in generalities, of course.
- By the way, I prefer the word 'measurable' to 'gradable' - the latter reminds me too much of the grades I put on papers for 30 years .
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25 Answers
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Anonymoushi everyone,I have a serious problem
I can't distinguish between ungradable and gradable adjectives,for example:'complicated' is gradable but 'amazed' is ungradable. how can i know which adjective is ungradable or gradable?most of the books have the same definition: gradable adjectives an be used to say that a thing or a person has more or less of a part
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Hello
Is it true "amazed" is a non-gradable adjective? I found three Project Gutenberg pages where "very amazed" is used.
Is it true "amazed" is a non-gradable adjective? I found three Project Gutenberg pages where "very amazed" is used.
He got into the boat with them; and the wind ceased, and they were very amazed among themselves and marveled. [The World Engl
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how about 'disappointed'? it is a gradable adjective(??) .and how can you learn it?I wonder
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Hello Green
'Disappointed' is gradable. I understand almost all of the emotion-state adjectives are gradable; 'amused', 'bored', 'confused', 'delighted', 'excited', 'frightened', 'interested', 'perplexed', 'satisfied', 'terrified', 'worried', etc.. We can put 'very' and 'a little' before them. We can apply to them a comparative construct like 'You are more [...] than I (am)'.
No
'Disappointed' is gradable. I understand almost all of the emotion-state adjectives are gradable; 'amused', 'bored', 'confused', 'delighted', 'excited', 'frightened', 'interested', 'perplexed', 'satisfied', 'terrified', 'worried', etc.. We can put 'very' and 'a little' before them. We can apply to them a comparative construct like 'You are more [...] than I (am)'.
No
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hello paco2004:)
according to the book:advanced grammar in use ,not all of the emotion-state are gradable,for ex: delighted,terrible,wonderful,useless,amazed.awful ,.. are non-gradable adjectives(that's why i don't understand it clearly)
can you explain to me more about it
thanks in advanced.
according to the book:advanced grammar in use ,not all of the emotion-state are gradable,for ex: delighted,terrible,wonderful,useless,amazed.awful ,.. are non-gradable adjectives(that's why i don't understand it clearly)
can you explain to me more about it
thanks in advanced.
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Interesting. All those adjectives –
1. You are more delighted than I am.
– I don't like the gift as much as you do, for instance.
2. This hammer without a head is more useless than that hammer without a handle.
– At least you can still hammer nails with a h
...delighted,terrible,wonderful,useless,amazed.awful...suit a 'more than' context:
1. You are more delighted than I am.
– I don't like the gift as much as you do, for instance.
2. This hammer without a head is more useless than that hammer without a handle.
– At least you can still hammer nails with a h
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I understand that gradable adjectives are those that can be modified by 'very' or 'so' and can have comparative and superlative forms. If Martin Hewings were right in that 'terrible' is non-gradable, some 10000 e-books available in Project Gutenberg and 400 articles given now online by CNN should be deemed to be using an ungrammatical expression. I wonder on what criteria Matin Hweings has determi
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We can certainly say 'most terrible': "that's the most terrible thing that's happened to me all week!"
Also 'so terrible': "well, that's not so terrible, is it?"
Maybe we need a new term. 'Binary adjectives'? (You either are or you aren't.)
Some candidates:
1. married
2. dead
3. pregnant
4. unique
5. speechless
MrP
Also 'so terrible': "well, that's not so terrible, is it?"
Maybe we need a new term. 'Binary adjectives'? (You either are or you aren't.)
Some candidates:
1. married
2. dead
3. pregnant
4. unique
5. speechless
MrP
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MrPedanticInteresting. All those adjectives –...delighted,terrible,wonderful,useless,amazed.awful...suit a 'more than' context:
1. You are more delighted than I am.
– I don't like the gift as much as you do, for instance.
2. This hammer without a head is more useless than that hammer without a handle.
– At least
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