Probably you know many adjectives such as fun, slow, difficult etc but did you know there are different types of adjectives which change the grammar.
For example, the following sentence is incorrect:
This movie is very terrible.
But these sentences are correct:
This movie is very bad.
This movie is really bad.
This movie is really terrible.
Why is that?
‘Terrible’ is an extreme adjective. It is a stronger version of ‘bad’. These extreme adjectives can’t use ‘very’ to make them stronger. They can use: really, absolutely, unbelievably, and extremely.
Here is a list of standard adjectives with their extreme partners.
Small:
Tiny
Minuscule
Microscopic
Big:
Huge
Massive
Gigantic
Enormous
Colossal
Immense
Good:
Excellent
Outstanding
Exceptional
Superb
Remarkable
Phenomenal
Bad:
Terrible
Horrible
Atrocious
Abysmal
Dreadful
Appalling
Hot:
Scorching
Blistering
Boiling
Cold:
Freezing
Frigid
Intelligent / Clever / Smart:
Brilliant
Genius
Beautiful:
Gorgeous
Breathtaking
Stunning
Note: that native speakers are often not so strict about this, you might hear ‘very freezing’ instead of ‘really freezing’ for example. However, if you want your speech to be natural 100% of the time, it is better to follow this rule!
