You can describe something as a bit cold, very cold or absolutely freezing. The adjective and its meaning help you choose the words that show how strong the quality is.
An adjective describes a person or thing: warm, small, interesting. A degree word tells you how much of that quality you mean. Very makes warm stronger; a bit makes it weaker.
You can use the same pattern before a noun. Keep the degree word with the adjective it describes.
These words are adverbs, even when they describe adjectives. You may see the name intensifier for a word that makes a meaning stronger. You may see modifier for a word that adds to or changes another word's meaning.
A gradable adjective describes a quality that can have different degrees. A bag can be heavy, very heavy or a bit heavy. There is no single final point that means as heavy as anything can be.
| Smaller degree | Stronger degree |
|---|---|
| a little noisy | very noisy |
| a bit expensive | really expensive |
| fairly difficult | extremely difficult |
Words such as fairly, quite and rather can show a degree between a little and very. This is a guide to the meaning, not a precise measuring scale. Context matters. See Quite and rather, fairly and pretty for the differences between quite, rather, fairly and pretty.
Gradable adjectives can also have comparative and superlative forms: heavy, heavier, heaviest; useful, more useful, most useful. See Comparatives and Superlatives for how to make them.
An extreme adjective already has a strong meaning. Freezing can mean very cold; exhausted means very tired. You can choose a stronger adjective instead of adding very to the simpler one.
| Gradable description | Strong description |
|---|---|
| very cold | freezing |
| very tired | exhausted |
| very big | enormous |
| very small | tiny |
| very good | excellent |
| very bad | awful |
These pairs help you understand the strength. They are not exact replacements in every sentence. Learn the adjective with the words that naturally go with it.
With extreme adjectives, absolutely and really are useful choices. British Council describes these as non-gradable adjectives. Cambridge says you do not normally use very with this kind of strong adjective.
In these ordinary uses, choose absolutely enormous or really enormous rather than very enormous. The point is a natural combination, not a rule that every strong adjective must take every strong adverb.
An absolute meaning describes a complete state or a limit: finished, impossible, perfect. British Council groups these meanings under non-gradable adjectives. Completely, totally and absolutely can stress that the state is complete.
Choose a combination that fits the meaning. Do not turn this formula into a list of words you can exchange in every sentence. Completely finished is useful; completely long is not the ordinary way to describe a long journey.
Some descriptions have an endpoint but can also refer to a degree near it. Empty can mean that there is nothing inside. Half empty describes a position between full and empty.
Grammar sources do not all use the same labels. Cambridge describes words such as full, empty, possible and impossible as gradable adjectives with a maximum or minimum. British Council uses an absolute, non-gradable group for words such as impossible. Keep the useful combinations and the intended meaning, rather than treating the labels as a test of what English allows.
Some adjectives tell you which type something is, rather than how much of a quality it has. Organic, when it describes a food category, is an example. Automatic and manual can identify types of machine or control.
In these literal category meanings, you do not normally grade the adjective with very. A door is automatic or manual; very automatic is not the ordinary way to name the category. This is different from saying that the door opens very quickly, where very describes quickly.
Ask what the adjective means in your sentence. A word list alone cannot settle every use of an adjective. Dry, for example, can describe a degree of dryness or the fully dry state.
The first sentence describes a quality of the food. The second says that the towels have reached the dry state. Neither needs to be rejected because dry appeared in a different group elsewhere.
Really can strengthen an ordinary gradable adjective or an extreme one. You do not need to replace really simply because the adjective is strong.
With a gradable adjective, quite usually means fairly or moderately. With an extreme or absolute meaning, it can mean completely or very strongly. Cambridge notes extra spoken stress in this second use.
Do not cross out quite with every non-gradable adjective. Quite right and quite incredible are accepted combinations. See Quite and rather, fairly and pretty for more about quite and its position before a noun.
Not very limits the degree. It can make a negative comment less direct. It does not mean the same as not at all.
Read the whole phrase. In not very comfortable, not changes the meaning of very comfortable; it is not another intensifier added to comfortable.
A collocation is a combination of words that people use together. The right choice depends on the particular adjective, not just its group. British Council gives highly with successful, intelligent and likely; bitterly with disappointed and cold; seriously with damaged and hurt.
These are useful partners to learn as phrases. They do not mean that highly works before any positive adjective or bitterly before any negative adjective. Use a dictionary to check a new combination.
Enough is different in position: it comes after the adjective. It means that the degree is sufficient for a purpose. Too comes before the adjective and shows more than is wanted or suitable.
Very narrow describes a high degree. Too narrow adds the idea that this causes a problem for the purpose. See enough and too for the full patterns, including to and for phrases.
Before a comparative, use a suitable comparison word such as much, far, a lot, a bit or slightly, not very by itself.
Very much can be used before a comparative, but very alone cannot: very much better, not very better. See Comparatives for the choices. Quite a lot cheaper is a comparison phrase; it is not the same pattern as quite cheap.
✗The journey was completely long.
✓The journey was very long.
Long describes an open-ended degree here. Use very, not completely, for this meaning.
✗This box is enough large for the printer.
✓This box is large enough for the printer.
Enough comes after the adjective.
✗The replacement is very cheaper.
✓The replacement is much cheaper.
Very alone does not modify a comparative. Use much or another suitable comparison phrase.
See Quite and rather, fairly and pretty for quite, rather, fairly and pretty, enough and too for sufficient and excessive degree, so and such for so and such, Comparatives for comparisons and Adverbs by meaning: time, place, manner, degree and comment for other things adverbs can describe.
No single CEFR label covers every adjective-adverb combination here.
Eight questions. Choose one answer for each.