Page 17 - Grasp English B1 (Grammar Book)

Family and Friends 2

Strong adjectives

Strong adjectives are adjectives which are used instead of using very + adjective. Strong
adjectives are more expressive than standard adjectives and are used with adverbs like really or
absolutely.
We can use really and very with standard adjectives, but not with strong adjectives as they
already have the meaning “extreme”.
e.g.
I feel very tired today. (very + tired)
I feel exhausted today. (exhausted = very tired)

Here are the most common strong adjectives:
very beautiful gorgeous
very cold freezing
very angry furious

very bad awful, terrible, disgusting, dreadful
very big enormous, huge
very clever brilliant
very good excellent, perfect, ideal, wonderful, splendid
very small tiny
very tasty delicious

H. Match the following strong adjectives to the standard adjectives.
1. enormous a. good

2. awful b. small
3. splendid c. bad
4. tiny d. tired
5. exhausted e. funny
6. hilarious f. big

I. Choose the correct alternative in italics.

1. When I went home, I fell asleep immediately because I was exhausted / hilarious.
2. The soup looks awful / tiny but it tastes awesome!
3. The comedian was so hilarious / enormous that he had people falling off their chairs.

4. Thank you for a(n) splendid / exhausted evening. I really liked the event.
5. It is a(n) awful / splendid work of art; it is an eternal piece.
6. I love this restaurant. They always serve the meal on enormous / awful plates.

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