Vital [gradable adjective or non-gradable?]

[sb70012]

Hello teachers,

The word "Vital" is gradable adjective or non-gradable?
I mean:
Can we use "very" with it? (Very vital)
Can we use it with comparative form? (vitaler than)

For example:

"His work is very vital"

Or

"His work is vitaler than her work"

In my opinion it's non-gradable and can not be used like "very vital" or "vitaler than" but I am not sure.
What's your opinion about that?

Thanks in advance.

 

[5jj]

The answer to this is the same as the answer to so many of your previous questions. Some people will use 'very' with your adjective and some will use a comparative form ('more vital than', not 'vitaler'). Others will not. For examination purposes, do not.

 

[sb70012]

('more vital than', not 'vitaler')

Thank you, but "Vital" has one syllable and the adjectives which have one syllable usually get "er" and the adjectives which have more than two syllables like "expensive" gets "more"

Why not "er"? Doesn't it (vital) have one syllable?

Thank you.

 

[Jaskin]

hi,
Please note I'm not a teacher nor a native speaker;

Note that there are adjectives that are gradable in one sense and non-gradable in another sense. On top of that, very is not only used as grading adverb but is also used to emphasize. Using very in front of adjectives or nouns doesn't makes them gradable.

cheers

 

[Tdol]

Why not "er"? Doesn't it (vital) have one syllable?

No, it has two.

 

[MikeNewYork]

Hello teachers,

The word "Vital" is gradable adjective or non-gradable?
I mean:
Can we use "very" with it? (Very vital)
Can we use it with comparative form? (vitaler than)

For example:

"His work is very vital"

Or

"His work is vitaler than her work"

In my opinion it's non-gradable and can not be used like "very vital" or "vitaler than" but I am not sure.
What's your opinion about that?

Thanks in advance.

As with many other words we have discussed, "vital" has more than one definition. When used as "absolutely necessary" or "essential" the word would likely not be graded. However, if used to mean "full of energy" or "lively", grading is possible.