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Originally Posted by mykwyner Why is unnecessary ungradable? If necessity is gradable (think of Mazlow's heirarchy) why would its opposite be ungradable? If the word unnecessary can be used in a conditional or subjunctive construction, isn't it then being graded?
If an umbrella is only necessary on rainy days, it is unnecessary, but not completely unnecessary on fair days because the weather can change. |
Hi everyone, first af all I's like to say that what I say here are just personal opinions (hopefully a little bit educated) and that I by no means want to imply that anything said here is wrong (though some things might be)
Well first of all the fact that necessity is gradable doesn't mean that the opposite is. Take usefulness for example, you can grade how useful something is but if something is useless, it's just that.
In the case of our comparison here, I'd never say as much unnecessary as.... Neither would I say very unnecessary. However I'd say totally unnecessary but just to stress the fact that it is unnecessary not as a modifier of how unnecessary it is. I know that you might think I am contradicting myself but I hope you get my idea.
On the other hand if we were talking about gradable adjectives, then I'd agree with Mr.P that the much adds an element of redundancy.
Finally I'd like to state that I never trust native speakers just for being native speakers since I've founf my english to be much better than that of many native speakers I see on a daily bases
Cheers
Ed