Discussing celebrations with gradable and extreme adjectives

Discussing celebrations with gradable and extreme adjectives
Use these words to describe festivals/ celebrations/ ceremonies. Does everyone agree? 
 annoying or irritating/ infuriating
 bad/ awful, dreadful, disastrous or terrible
 big or large/ gigantic, huge, massive or enormous
 bored/ stupefied
 boring/ mind-numbing or stupefying
 busy/ rushed off my feet
 cool or cold/ freezing or frozen
 crowded/ packed or cram-packed
 depressing or sad/ heart-breaking
 different or distinctive/ unique
 difficult, hard or tricky/ impossible
 disappointed/ devastated
 disappointing/ devastating
 drunk, merry, or tipsy/ wasted, wrecked, or blotto
 excited/ thrilled
 exciting/ thrilling
 expensive or pricey/ exorbitant
 frightened or scared/ terrified or petrified
 frightening or scary/ terrifying or petrifying  
 full/ stuffed
 funny/ hilarious
 good/ great, brilliant, fantastic, fabulous, terrific or splendid
 hot or warm/ baking, boiling or roasting
 important or necessary/ crucial, vital or essential
 impressed/ awed
 impressive/ awe inspiring
 little or small/ tiny, miniscule or minute
 loud or noisy/ ear-splitting
 memorable/ unforgettable
 moving/ heart-wrenching
 nice or pleasant/ charming, lovely or delightful
 old/ ancient
 rich or wealthy/ loaded or filthy rich
 silly/ idiotic or ridiculous
 special/ exceptional
 surprised/ amazed, astonished or stunned
 surprising/ amazing, astonishing, stunning or unbelievable
 tasty/ delicious, mouth-watering or lip-smacking
 tired/ exhausted
 tiring/ exhausting
 unpleasant/ revolting
 yucky/ revolting, sickening or repulsive

p. 1

Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2020

Choose a topic below and try to agree on a description using words above and these:
 absolutely/ totally
 extremely/ incredibly
 very
 fairly
 a little/ not very/ not so
 not… at all/ totally un…

 April Fool’s Day
 Armistice Day/ Remembrance Day/ 

War Memorial Day/ Poppy Day

 autumn equinox
 birthday party
 Boxing Day
 Buddha’s birthday/ Vesak
 Burning Man
 Carnival/ Mardi Gras
 Children’s Day/ Children’s festival
 (the twelve days of) Christmas
 Christmas Day
 Christmas Eve
 Coming of Age Day
 Constitution Day/ Independence Day
 Diwali
 Easter Sunday
 Easter week
 Eid (ul Fitr)
 Emperor’s birthday/ Empress’s King’s 

birthday/ Queen’s birthday

 Father’s Day
 (Spanish) fiesta
 Fire Festival
 first communion
 Gay Pride
 Glastonbury 



“Golden Week”

 Good Friday
 Halloween
 Flower viewing
 Hanukkah
 harvest festivals
 Holi
 Krampusnacht
 La Tomatina tomato throwing festival
 Lent

 Lunar New Year/ Chinese New Year
 May Day
 Mother’s Day
 National holidays/ Bank holidays
 New Year
 New Year’s Day
 New Year’s Eve
 Oktoberfest
 parades
 Peppero Day/ Pocky Day
 Purim
 Quinceañera
 Ramadan
 retirement celebrations
 Running of the Bulls
 Sabbath/ Shabbat
 Saint Patrick’s Day
 Setsubun bean throwing festival
 Sex reveal party
 Shrove Tuesday/ Pancake Day
 Snow Festival
 Stag night/ Hen night/ Bachelor party
 spring equinox
 street festivals
 Tanabata
 Teachers’ Day
 Tet/ Vietnamese New Year
 Thanksgiving
 Valentine’s Day
 water throwing festival
 wedding anniversary
 wedding ceremony
 wedding reception



“White Day”

 Whitsun
 Yom Kippur

p. 2

Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2020

Discussion questions 
Ask your partner a question from below and see if you have the same their opinions, 
experiences, etc:
 How annoying is Gay Pride to conservatives?
 How bad is it if you forget to do lucky things on the right days?
 How big are wedding anniversary celebrations/ most Valentine’s Day presents/ en-

gagement celebrations?

 How boring are most graduation ceremonies/ is the Queen’s speech/ are the presid-

ent’s speeches?

 How busy is it during/ before/ after the New Year period?
 How cold or hot is it on Xmas Day/ when people most often watch fireworks?
 How crowded are most street festivals/ 

shops before Christmas?

 How different are summer festivals in different places/ are Chinese New Year and New

Year in your country?

 How difficult is it for people to fast?
 How disappointed are people if you forget their birthday/ anniversary?
 How drunk do most people get at wedding receptions/ on St Patrick’s Day/ during New

Year?

 How exciting are most children’s birthday parties?
 How expensive are most weddings?
 How frightened do young children get during setsubun bean throwing/ Halloween/ The 

Day of the Dead/ Black Santa/ Krampusnacht?

 How full are people after Christmas dinner/ after Thanksgiving dinner/ after birthday 

parties/ on Shrove Tuesday?

 How funny is April Fool’s Day?
 How good are most people about keeping their New Year’s resolutions/ fasting (at Ra-

madan)/ giving things up (for Lent)/ losing weight after…?

 How important is the day that people come of age/ Buddha’s birthday/ the head of 

state’s birthday/ May Day?

 How impressive are most parades/ fireworks displays?
 How interesting are most parades/ (street) processions? 
 How loud are street festivals/ traditional musicians?
 How memorable are most people’s fifteenth birthday parties?
 How moving are war memorial ceremonies?
 How old are most local festivals?
 How sad are people about spending birthdays/ Xmas/ New Year on their own?
 How scared are pets during fireworks displays?
 How scary are most Halloween costumes and decorations?
 How special are 18

th

/ 20

th

/ 60

th

/ 77

th

/ 80

th

/ 100

th

 birthday parties?

 How surprising are most birthday presents?
 How tasty is the food during winter festivals?
 How tiring is it to take part in parades/ prepare for a children’s birthday party?
 How unpleasant are tricks that people do on April Fool’s/ stag nights/ hen nights?

p. 3

Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2020