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
angry
bad
big
clean
cold
crowded
dirty
funny
good
hot
hungry
interesting
old
pretty
scary
small
surprising
tired
ugly

ExtremeAdjective
furious
awful,terrible,horrible
huge,gigantic,giant
spotless
freezing
packed
filthy
hilarious
wonderful,fantastic,excellent
boiling
starving
fascinating
ancient
gorgeous
terrifying
tiny
astounding
exhausted
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
complete
equal
essential
dead
fatal
first
full
ideal
impossible
infinite
married
perfect
pregnant
unique
universal
unknown
true

Opposite
incomplete
unequal
nonessential;extraneous
alive
notfatal
last/final
empty
notideal
possible
finite
single / divorced /
separated/widowed
imperfect
notpregnant
notunique
notuniversal
known
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/