Base / Strong adjectives

/A learner/:silly:

Until now, I've heard for attributive and non-attributive adjectives and not for base and strong.

e2e4 said:

/A learner/:silly:

Until now, I've heard for attributive and non-attributive adjectives and not for base and strong.

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But I've got it in my English Course!

Base adjectives are those which just denote some basic features. Strong adjectives are those which denote extreme features.

Some sample pairs:

good - great
good - fantastic
bad - terrible
big - enormous
small - tiny

Why is it not good to use "very" with strong adjectives? Because some people find it pleonasmic. They think this way: "Why would I need to say 'very enormous'? 'Enormous' has 'very' in its definition, because it means 'very big'. So let's not use 'very' twice. It would be incorrect to say 'very enormous' because it would mean 'very (very big)' and you can't gradate 'very big'."

It must be said though that strong adjectives tend to lose their strength. In some circles, people call "fantastic" everything they find good, and calling something "good" can even sound pejorative to them! Then if everything good is "fantastic", how shold they call something very good? "Very fantastic" of course!

Sir Shakespeare said:

Hullo afresh ​

May anyone clarify what's the difference between base adjectives and strong adjectives and how can I differentiate between them ? And why are those sentences wrong? ​

1- She is very beautiful* ​

2- I was very exhausted*
















































​

And is it right that we use very with base adjectives and absolutely with strong adjectives ?!and whY?​

And I'll be thankful ​

​

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***** NOT A TEACHER *****


Sir Shakespeare,

Thank you very much for your question. I am also waiting for a teacher

to answer. I will share with you the very little that I have learned.

(1) I do not think grammar books here in the United States use the

terms "base" and "strong" adjectives. I did some googling. I think

(think) that most Americans use the word gradable adjectives

(for "base" or "weak" adjectives) and the word non-gradable

adjectives ( for "strong" adjectives).

(2) As you know "gradable" (base) adjectives have degrees. For example,

"old" is a gradable adjective because you can say old/older/oldest. So

I can say that I am very old.

(3) Non-gradable (strong) adjectives cannot have degrees. The books

tell us not to say "very dead." A person is dead or not dead. You cannot

say that X is deader than Y. Both X and Y are dead. That's it.

(3) Yes, I have read that some people classify "beautiful" as a

non-gradable adjective. They say that you cannot say "very"

beautiful. But I think that most Americans feel that "very beautiful"

is good English. We often say that X is more beautiful than Y. Of course,

if your teacher says that "very beautiful" is wrong, you must not

disagree with him/her. But I think that other posters will agree that

native speakers have no problem with "very beautiful."

(4) Regarding "exhausted," I found on the Internet a lesson from the

BBC (that wonderful radio station in London). It says that "exhausted"

is a non-gradable adjective. I guess that means that you are exhausted

or not exhausted (like "dead," "perfect," "unique," etc.). So that lesson

says you should not say "very exhausted." Rather, you should say:

"absolutely exhausted."

Well, that is all that I know (think I know) about this matter, so I shall

stop and wait for the teachers to explain more to us.

***** NOT A TEACHER *****

/A learner/

TheParser said:

(3) Yes, I have read that some people classify "beautiful" as a

non-gradable adjective. They say that you cannot say "very"

beautiful. But I think that most Americans feel that "very beautiful"

is good English. We often say that X is more beautiful than Y. Of course,

if your teacher says that "very beautiful" is wrong, you must not

disagree with him/her. But I think that other posters will agree that

native speakers have no problem with "very beautiful."

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I saw a girl who was extremely beautiful in front of a huge building, today.

/A learner/

Sir Shakespeare said:

She is very pretty, but not very beautiful*

So it depends, as I see, on one's semantics to be able to differentiate between those "base" gradable and "Strong" upgradable adjectives!

Thanks again! ​

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There is a solution for "very"

She is so pretty.

In addition

The face in the picture called Monalisa is amazingly mysterious.
The face in the picture called Monalisa is so mysterious.