how (much) tired

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beachboy

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Is it acceptable to say "You can't imagine how much tired I am" instead of "You can't imagine how tired I am"?
 
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Rover_KE

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emsr2d2

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"How much" goes before nouns". It doesn't work before adjectives.
 

Rover_KE

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...except in a sentence like 'How much hot milk do you want?'
 

emsr2d2

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...except in a sentence like 'How much hot milk do you want?'

Indeed! :oops:

It doesn't work before an adjective on its own, when the adjective does not precede a noun.
 

panglossa

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Indeed! :oops:

It doesn't work before an adjective on its own, when the adjective does not precede a noun.

True.

Even in cases where 'much' can, if formally, be used as an intensifier (e.g. I was much surprised to learn...) we still wouldn't ask *how much surprised?.
 

emsr2d2

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True.

Even in cases where 'much' can, if formally, be used as an intensifier (e.g. I was much surprised to learn...) we still wouldn't ask *how much surprised?.

You don't hear "much surprised" very often in BrE these days.
 

5jj

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There are 5 BNC citations for 'much surprised, 147 for 'very surprised'.
 

beachboy

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What about "How much more tired were you after the game"?
 

Rover_KE

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That sounds OK to me.
 

panglossa

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Yes. 'Much more' is OK - it doesn't matter what, if anything, follows.
 

panglossa

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