Gradable and Non Gradable Adjectives

First published by Jennifer Frost on Apr 18, 2012

and regularly updated.

gradable non gradable adjectives Big can get bigger and even become the biggest. Loud can get louder and even become the loudest. But why can’t perfect get perfecter or become the perfectest? Because, my dear readers, there are gradable adjectives and non-gradable adjectives, otherwise known as absolutes.

Learning about gradable and non-gradable adjectives will greatly improve your grammar. You will begin to understand why, in formal writing, phrases such as very unique, more correct, most unique, and most correct are often avoided. Think about it like this: being correct is usually treated as absolute. You’re either correct or you aren’t, right? You may disagree because, in reality, people can be correct within the context of a particular area but incorrect in the grander scheme of things. By the way, grander uses a gradable adjective.

In light of this, there is some room in the middle by way of modifiers. Modifiers allow us to say things like almost impossible or nearly perfect. We know that impossible is absolute, but nearly impossible implies a slight possibility.

A trick to mastering this area of English grammar is to think of words as either able to grow or as static. For example, something can be hotter than something else, so hot is gradable: hot, hotter, hottest. But if something is impossible, it simply is. It is static and final. Similarly, if something is perfect, it is already complete. It is static and final.

Have a go at trying to determine whether the following adjectives are gradable or non-gradable. If you think a word is gradable, expand on it as follows: hot, hotter, hottest. If the adjective is non-gradable, leave it as it is. The answers are below, too. No peeking!